IG Report: Former FBI Director Comey Used Gmail for FBI Business when Director Despite Warning Employees Against It & Going After Hillary Clinton for the Same

OH THE IRONY …

I guess we now know why Comey went soft on Hillary Clinton when it came to Hillary Clinton using her personal email and server when she was Secretary of State. As it turns out, from the IG Report and according to CNBC, James Comey used his personal Gmail account to do FBI business.

Page 425 – IG report

James Comey used a personal Gmail account to conduct FBI business on numerous occasions when he was director of the bureau — even though he had bluntly warned FBI workers they would be in “huge trouble” for doing the same thing, the Justice Department’s internal watchdog revealed Thursday.

His frequent use of a personal email account for unclassified FBI business was “inconsistent with” Justice Department policy, according to a report issued by the Office of the Inspector General.

Comey was criticized in that report for usurping the power of the attorney general in his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server for State Department business.

Comey had publicly said in the summer of 2016 that he was not recommending any criminal charges in connection with Clinton’s use of that email server.

Comey told FBI agents that if they used their personal email they would be in big trouble. But of course that same standard does not apply to crooked Comey.

But Comey added, “I have gotten emails from some employees about this, who said, ‘If I did what Hillary Clinton did I’d be in huge trouble.’”

“My response is you bet your ass you’d be in huge trouble,” Comey said in that speech.

“If you used a personal email, Gmail or if you [had] the capabilities to set up your own email domain, if you used an unclassified personal email system to do our business in the course of doing our business even though you were communicating with people with clearances and doing work you discussed classified matters in that, in those communications, TS/SCI, special access programs, you would be in huge trouble in the FBI,” Comey said.

IG Michael Horowitz Report: Strzok Texted Page Referring to Trump Becoming President … “No. No He’s Not. We’ll Stop It”

“No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it” … YOU CAN BET YOUR A$$, THERE WAS POLITICAL BIAS GOING ON IN THE FBI!!!

According to the Inspector General Michael Horowitz report (pg. 149), the IG revealed an incredibly damning message between FBI agent lovebirds Peter Strzok to Lisa Page. However, the majorly concerning aspect of this revelation was that the text message had been previously hidden from Congress.

A bombshell report released Thursday by the Justice Department’s inspector general includes new evidence that an FBI agent and an agency lawyer who were having an affair in 2016 were also plotting to keep President Donald Trump from winning the election.

In an email on August 8, 2016, Special Agent Peter Strzok reassured Page that she needn’t worry about Trump winning the White House.

Trump is ‘not ever going to become president, right? Right?!’ Page texted Strzok. 

‘No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it,’ he responded.

WE’LL STOP IT?!? HOW IN THE HELL IS NOT NOT POLITICAL BIAS? Also, who is the “We’ll” that Strzok is referring to? Hmm, could that be a conspiracy among the Deep State? The Gateway Pundit asks, “Who deleted this second part of the message?” A very good question, but of course there is no political bias at the FBI.

IG Report: Comey Broke from FBI Procedures but “No Political Bias”

HUH?

The first leaks on the Inspector General’s report say James Comey broke from FBI procedures when he delivered his report publicly on the Hillary Clinton email scandal. But it wasn’t political? This is just the beginning of the stories of Comey’s misconduct which will ultimately lead to the obviously conclusion that Comey deserved to be fired and there was no obstruction.

VIA Bloomberg:

Former FBI Director James Comey was “insubordinate” in handling the probe into Hillary Clinton, damaging the bureau and the Justice Department’s image of impartiality even though he wasn’t motivated by politics, the department’s watchdog found.

Although the report issued Thursday by Inspector General Michael Horowitz doesn’t deal directly with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and possible collusion with those around Donald Trump, the president and his Republican allies in Congress were primed to seize on it as evidence of poor judgment and anti-Trump bias within the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department.

Horowitz said that five FBI officials expressed hostility toward Trump before his election as president and disclosed in his report to Congress that their actions have been referred to the bureau for possible disciplinary action.

“The president was briefed on the IG report earlier today, and it reaffirmed the president’s suspicions about Comey’s conduct and the political bias among some of the members of the FBI,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of the 500-page report.

Many on the RIGHT are up in arms over the comment that Comey did not act with a political bias. WhichI am finding that conclusion a bit suspect. However, I also interpret this a little differently as well. I think the IG is stating that to defend Comey’s actions against Democrats whining that it was Comey who cost Hillary Clinton the election. Although I am scratching mu head on no political bias.

AG Sessions Defends Firing Comey, Warns DOJ Report Could Prompt more Terminations

From The Hill, Attorney General Jeff Sessions defended the firing of of the FBI’s top two former executives, FBI Director and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and warned that the forthcoming IG report on the FBI’s handling of the Hillary Clinton probe could result in more people being fired.

On the eve of the release of a potentially explosive new report, Attorney General Jeff Sessions defended the termination of the FBI’s top two former executives and warned that the forthcoming report on the FBI’s handling of the Hillary Clinton probe could result in more people being fired.

In an exclusive interview with The Hill’s new TV show “Rising,” which aired Thursday morning, Sessions defended the decision to fire ex-Director James Comey, who he said “made a big mistake” that belied a “serious breach of discipline.”

Sessions also made clear that he is open to firing more employees if the Justice Department inspector general’s soon-to-be-released report warrants it.

“I think it will be a lengthy report and a careful report,” he told “Rising” co-host Buck Sexton. “I think it will help us better fix any problems that we have and reassure the American people that some of the concerns that have been raised are not true.”

Everyone awaits the release of the IG’s report later today.

James A. Wolfe, Former Senate Intelligence Committee Aide Arrested & Indicted in Investigation of Classified Leaks

THROW THE BOOK AT THIS GUY, MAKE AN EXAMPLE OUT OF HIM AND THE LEAKS WILL COME TO A CRASHING END …

As reported at the New York Times, 57 year old James A. Wolfe, a former Senate Intelligence Committee aide for 30 years, was arrested and indicted (see indictment here) in an investigation of classified information leaks during the Trump presidency. Wolfe repeatedly lied to investigators about his contacts with reporters and made false statements to the FBI. According to prosecutors, Wolfe communicated with a four reporters, using using encrypted messaging applications and his Senate email account, from 2015 to 2017. The media is up in arms as they claim their First Amendment rights have been violated by the seizure of their communication records by the DOJ. However, there will be no arrests of the media and no media names were included in the indictments. Tt is not a crime for the media to report the leak, but it is a crime to leak the classified information.

A former Senate Intelligence Committee aide was arrested on Thursday in an investigation of classified information leaks where prosecutors also secretly seized years’ worth of a New York Times reporter’s phone and email records.

The former aide, James A. Wolfe, 57, was charged with lying repeatedly to investigators about his contacts with three reporters. According to the authorities, Mr. Wolfe made false statements to the F.B.I. about providing two of them with sensitive information related to the committee’s work. He denied to investigators that he ever gave classified material to journalists, the indictment said.

Mr. Wolfe, the Intelligence Committee’s director of security, was slated to appear before a federal judge on Friday in Washington. Reached on Thursday evening before his arrest, Mr. Wolfe declined to comment.

Mr. Wolfe’s case led to the first known instance of the Justice Department going after a reporter’s data under President Trump. The seizure was disclosed in a letter to the Times reporter, Ali Watkins, who had been in a three-year relationship with Mr. Wolfe. The seizure suggested that prosecutors under the Trump administration will continue the aggressive tactics employed under President Barack Obama.

In his role with the committee, Mr. Wolfe was responsible for safeguarding classified and other sensitive information shared with lawmakers. He stopped performing committee work in December and retired in May.

Court documents describe Mr. Wolfe’s communications with four reporters — including Ms. Watkins — using encrypted messaging applications. It appeared that the F.B.I. was investigating how Ms. Watkins learned that Russian spies in 2013 had tried to recruit Carter Page, a former Trump foreign policy adviser. She published an article for BuzzFeed News on April 3, 2017, about the attempted recruitment of Mr. Page in which he confirmed the contacts.

Department of Justice Statement – U.S. Attorney’s Office – District of Columbia:

Former U.S. Senate Employee Indicted on False Statements Charges
Longtime Director of Security for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Accused of Lying to FBI About Repeated Contacts with Reporters

WASHINGTON – A former staff employee of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) has been indicted and arrested on charges of making false statements to special agents of the FBI during the course of an investigation into the unlawful disclosure of classified information, announced Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jessie K. Liu, and Timothy M. Dunham, Special Agent in Charge of the Counterintelligence Division of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

James A. Wolfe, 58, of Ellicott City, Md., was indicted by a federal grand jury on three counts of violating Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001. At the time he made the alleged false statements to the FBI, Wolfe was Director of Security for the SSCI, a position he held for approximately 29 years. As SSCI Director of Security, Wolfe was entrusted with access to classified SECRET and TOP SECRET information provided by the Executive Branch, including the U.S. Intelligence Community, to the SSCI.  In this position, Wolfe was responsible for safeguarding all classified information in the possession of the SSCI.

Wolfe is alleged to have lied to FBI agents in December 2017 about his repeated contacts with three reporters, including through his use of encrypted messaging applications.  Wolfe is further alleged to have made false statements to the FBI about providing two reporters with non-public information related to the matters occurring before the SSCI.

“The Attorney General has stated that investigations and prosecutions of unauthorized disclosure of controlled information are a priority of the Department of Justice.  The allegations in this indictment are doubly troubling as the false statements concern the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive and confidential information,” said Assistant Attorney General Demers.  “Those entrusted with sensitive information must discharge their duties with honesty and integrity, and that includes telling the truth to law enforcement.”