The IG Hall of Mirrors
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The professionally written and admirably researched IG report is in some sense a hall of mirrors, with all sorts of reflections that are contorted and warped, and into which all parties claim to see reality.
Often the euphemistic conclusions are not supported by the data produced. The only constant to Obama-era FBI and DOJ behavior is the universal assumption that Hillary Clinton would be president, and what might be assumed as improper or illegal conduct in the present, would likely in the future be excused or rewarded.
On the question of “bias,” the report exhaustively catalogues communications in which government investigators and attorneys systematically deprecate Trump, and the Trump voter, and in explicit terms boast about stopping him.
Apparently the IG can conclude that there is not actionable bias (although at times admitting he could not rule it out), because he did not find something such as “documentary” memos or texts outlining explicit behaviors, or some fantasy such as an admission that “the Trump voter is a POS who smells and therefore that fact is going to unprofessionally guide my investigations” — as if bias and prejudice are ever in professional life so clumsily documented in a formal, self-incriminating manner.
Instead, bias in government is manifested through cynicism about the objectivity of an investigation, in personal animus for those under investigation, and with disdain for particular and entire classes of perceived inferiors — precisely the themes of various texts in the IG report. And, of course, bias shows up in results: Almost none of the DOJ and FBI agents in the IG report will ever face serious legal consequences for running a warped investigation quite unlike any of those they typically conduct on average Americans. What the IG often terms “improperly” would be considered “illegally” for most Americans.
There is mention of apparent quid pro quo “gifts” to FBI agents from journalists. The lead investigator into the improper if not illegal use of personal emails himself improperly uses personal email. A DOJ lawyer as a veritable Clinton mole obsequiously tries to peddle his influence to snag a job for his son on the Clinton campaign. The Russian probe is mysteriously green-lighted; the Clinton email scandal investigation is ossified.
FBI and DOJ attorneys cynically predict that investigations and their results will be predicated on the reality of an existing Obama presidency and a preordained Clinton continuance. Trump’s supporters are trashed as smelly idiots, little more than feces. Redaction is exposed as an FBI/DOJ juvenile and clumsy ruse to protect the embarrassing and biased communications of those supposedly conducting “unbiased” investigations. Un-redaction reveals revolting gossip and puerility, not as once claimed confidential investigative methods or matters of national security.
Comey’s FBI is the mirror image of Mueller’s special-counsel investigation: Both have the same objective to subvert Trump, but the means to achieve such a shared end are flipped, given the different circumstances.
On the one hand, Comey and his FBI ignore likely perjury and the misleading testimonies of Clinton staffers. For purposes of exoneration, they struggle to invent new linguistic interpretations of existing statutes. They ignore what is likely obstruction of justice of the attorney general modulating her investigations of the email scandal after meeting stealthily with Bill Clinton, the spouse of the suspect currently under investigation. They deliberately mask the fact that the president of the United States has communicated with his secretary of state over an illegal server and then has likely lied about his ignorance of such a fact. Comey himself admits that political considerations warp the course of his investigation of the email scandal.
In dire contrast, for Mueller, even perceived incomplete or inaccurate testimony is immediately leveraged as possible perjury for dirt on superiors. Supposed bribes and influence peddling are never reduced to mere “gifts.” When there is no evidence of collusion, every imaginable personal sin of the past is dredged up, again to flip a witness with threats of exorbitant legal costs and exposure to jail. The Andrew McCabe standard of conflict of interest (there is supposedly no technical law against one’s spouse receiving $700,000 in campaign help from a political machine allied to a candidate that one has just been investigating) does not apply to Flynn et al. but is redefined as “collusion.”
We have not yet even seen a smidgeon of any IG report on the abuses of the FISA court, the government trafficking in the Clinton-bought dossier, or the insertion of an “informant” into the Trump campaign. But this particular IG report mostly follows the pattern of those conducted about Fast and Furious, the Lerner IRS mess, and other scandals of the prior eight years: Professionally conducted research into behavior of federal officials that finds levels of illegality that would warrant any other American a jail sentence — concluding with the implied obvious conclusion and suggested remedies: 1) There will be no consequences for the culpable other than temporary embarrassment and loss or reassignment of employment; 2) federal employees should follow existing laws.
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Wait until part 2 and 3 and 4 and 5. Some desperate people who know they're guilty are going down.
The problem with IGs is that their goal is to make processes within the organization they are investigating better. We need to have a Blue Ribbon commission or a special counsel investigation into these matters.
I agree. Congress created the FBI and the FBI must answer to Congress. During the Obama years and probably long before that, the FBI has become accustomed to operating outside scrutiny. Only did we really start to see how arrogant they were when they started using that 'Greater Than Thou' and not to be questioned as to their integrity.
I think we've come to realize that hasn't been the case at all, at least in the upper echelons and that is also the case in the other agencies, such as the IRS. I think if you work for the government, you should lose all your benefits if you use the 5th as a defense. If there is anywhere we need to hold people responsible for their actions and knowledge of actions of others, it is our government.
Lois Lerner comes to mind. Refused to answer questions and is living well on her retirement and everyone knows what happened during the scrutiny of Conservative groups before the election and everyone knows why.
It defies common sense. There is nothing but bias.
Can you believe Comey, the Director of the FBI, said he didn't know Anthony Weiner was married to Huma Abedin? He plays dumb or is dumb. Does like Obama use to do, "I found out about it in the newspapers, just like you" and they criticize Trump for not wanting to go to his daily briefings. Where was Obama? He knew all about this corruption in the FBI and I can't see how I can be convince any other way.
Does anyone think there will be such a report? I am definitely interested in finding out why Carter Page was targeted for a fishing expedition after he had left the campaign … yet after months of recordings and long interviews/testimony - TA DA no charges, not even accusations of any wrong doing - yet a FISA warrant was granted based on what? the Steele Dossier? certainly was not based on anything factual against Page - he was so open, some 'journalists' even stated that he talked too much!
Thanks for the article sixpick … was a hectic week and I did not get a chance to read as much as I usually do - but the garden is completed and my flower beds look great : )
Without any oversight, the intelligence agencies, IRS and all have come to believe they are invincible. All they have to do is lie and tell everyone how much integrity they have and we've almost been conditioned to believe it.
Good point sixpick, various government agencies have become emboldened - their ability to cover for themselves uncompromised... til now?
Almost? I am thinking it is more like MOST Americans have been conditioned to believe that the government is in someway superior to 'us common folks' and should be believed above all.. Government officials are conditioned to lie, the people believe them … and those that point out the lies are 'conspiracy theorists' ……… rinse and repeat...
P.s.... I cannot help but laugh at all those posting about righties and reality … for some reason individuals think this all started with the current President .. yet he has merely magnified what has been going on for years -
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Off topic, but look at the Mueller investigation, we 'must' believe in the integrity of the special counsel … yet individuals are being crushed under the weight of legal bills and have to strike a deal in order to stop the bleeding - is this part of that integrity 'we' hear so much about? .. I am thinking that in an investigation such as a 'counterintelligence' investigation where the special counsel has 'unlimited' funds, lawyers should be provided to those subpoenaed / accused of wrong doing.... (sorry my mind wandered : )
Ooo Happy Fathers Day to all
As someone said Fox isn't #1 when compared to ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and MSNBC. The majority of people only hear the highlights constantly from these sources. It takes effort to look for the truth.
Reality is starring in righties' faces as righties pretend reality is not there...
Those who clamored for the IG's report now need to shut up and read it...
I've never seen so much dribble being spread by righties which is hella lot.
You can run, but you can't hide JBB. You can open your eyes, but you can't see. You can lie, but you can't deny. Don't worry though because it's not over and there's more investigating going on right now, maybe not this minute, but the investigation has already proved what we already knew, everyone tied to the Democrats have lied out their bottoms.
"Righties" have no problem reading the FACTS that are in the IG report, with all the blatant unprofessional bias and promises to interfere in the election. The problem is that the conclusion is willfully obtuse. It's just another case of the swamp protecting itself.
528 pages of print which can't be read once and completely digested is being reported by many who haven't read the first page. Schumer was on TV using it for the Democrats benefit moments after it came out. I bet he hasn't read the first page.
But you can bet Mark Levin has read every word at least twice and studied every aspect of it. I bet none of the mainstream media has read it. They don't have to read it, their talking points are already made up for them.
I bet Laura Ingram and Cheryl Atkinson have read and studied it as well. We have some really good people on our side. Thankful for having them.
Trey Gowdy is really giving Horowitz and his IG report a good and embarrassing going over.
Trey Gowdy grilled Hillary for 9 hours and all he got was embarrassed.