We can hope it is not for lost causes
Senator Grassley is doggedly persistent in seeking information about the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email scandal. The Senator is asking many of the right questions and is showing unusual tenacity in the face of the standard practices of the Obama administration . . . stonewalling, slow-walking, lying, deception, contempt. It’s all the stuff that only a small part of is usually necessary for Republicans on Capitol Hill to quickly surrender to or cower from.
Chuck Grassley has not been willing to go quietly into that “dark night” of media cover for Obama.
The Hillary Clinton matter is an issue of gigantic consequences for America and Mr. Grassley cannot do it alone. Unless there is massive public outcry against the farce that has been portrayed as an “investigation”, the last hope that this nation can survive the sharp downward spiral toward tyrannical rule of the past 8 years will have died.
History will mark FBI Director James Comey’s grimly comical press conference when he, bathed in flop sweat, announced that Clinton had been found to have committed numerous acts of illegality and betrayal of national security . . . but it was way above Comey’s pay grade to do anything about it . . . as the occasion when the greatest democratic republic the world has ever known became no more.
It appears that if Senator Grassley were to officially report and it were widely reported, what had really happened , from Mrs. Clinton’s initial decision to ignore laws, protocols, customs, and responsible execution of her duty, through the far reaching efforts by the president and every member of the administration involved in the matter to obstruct , to its conclusion to use the nation’s top law enforcement agency as cover to protect her, one of two things are likely to happen:
1. Barack Obama would be forced to immediately step down from office, or,
2. America would be shaken to its foundations by open and almost apocalyptic rebellion.
So, sorry Chuck, in reading the article linked to below, forgive our pessimism, It was a good and brave try, but America is no longer what it used to be. Excerpts of Catherine Herridge, and Pamela K. Browne – Fox News report: (bold emphasis not in original)
‘Gag’ order: FBI confirms special secrecy agreements for agents in Clinton email probe
The FBI has confirmed to a senior Republican senator (Grassley) that agents were sworn to secrecy — and subject to lie detector tests — in the Hillary Clinton email probe, an extensive measure one former agent said could have a “chilling effect.”
(snip)
The measures show the extent to which the bureau has gone to keep additional details of the politically sensitive case from going public. While Comey has provided some information on why the FBI did not opt to pursue charges, Attorney General Loretta Lynch repeatedly ducked questions on specifics of the case at a House hearing Tuesday.
(snip)
Responding one day after the FBI director said he would not recommend criminal charges, Grassley pointed to Comey’s conclusions that a limited number of emails had classified markings, thousands of work related emails were not turned over by Clinton to the State Department despite a sworn declaration to a federal court and her public assurances, as well as “potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information.”
“In light of all these inconsistencies, it is even more troubling that the FBI tried to gag its agents with a non-disclosure agreement on this matter, in violation of whistleblower protection statutes,” Grassley said in the strongly worded letter. “…you indicated that agents working on this case were required to sign a non-disclosure agreement that failed to exempt protected whistleblowing. Only after I wrote to you did you advise your FBI agents that they are still free to speak with Congress regarding waste, fraud, and abuse.”
The “Case Briefing Acknowledgement Addendum” provided to Senator Grassley after the initial FBI response July 1 makes clear the agreement does not supersede or conflict with “communications to Congress” and “the reporting to an Inspector General of a violation, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety, or….any other whistleblower protection.”
Grassley also noted the timing of the FBI’s response five months after his original request for information on the NDAs, with a partial response July 1, and full response on July 5 2016, the same day the FBI made a public recommendation at bureau headquarters against criminal charges.
(snip)
Grassley’s letter is wide ranging, and beyond the non-disclosure agreements, requests a response by July 20 to questions including whether, after Bill Clinton and Lynch’s June 28 meeting on a Phoenix airport tarmac, there is no need for a special counsel. He also wanted to know about the FBI’s reported agreement that some questions would be off limits for Clinton’s personal attorney Cheryl Mills, and whether the FBI or Justice Department raised concerns that several of Clinton’s associates used the same attorneys to represent them in the investigation.
DLH
