Transcripts of former FBI General Counsel James Baker’s October testimony to Congress reveal that he believed Hillary Clinton should have been charged for her “alarming, appalling” mishandling of classified information, according to the Epoch Times.
Baker resigned from the FBI in May 2018 and it was recently revealed that he is the subject of a criminal leak investigation.
Baker’s congressional testimony made headlines last fall when it was revealed that he believed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was “serious” when telling colleagues he wanted to secretly record President Trump.
While Baker himself was not in the room with Rosenstein when he made the comments, two of his associates were: FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and FBI lawyer, Lisa Page. Both McCabe and Page allegedly took Rosenstein seriously and conveyed that to Baker.
For the full story from the Epoch Times–which includes even more shocking revelations–click HERE.
Former FBI Director James Comey doesn’t seem to think it’s important who paid for the salacious, unverified anti-Trump dossier.
I asked Director Comey about who paid for the dossier.
According to Fox News, the transcript also reveals Comey’s rationale for sending the two FBI agents to interview Flynn in January 2017 without following standard protocol and the fact that the FBI knew “exactly” what Flynn had said to Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak prior to their questioning.
“The agents went to interview Flynn to try and understand why the national security adviser was making false statements to the vice president of the United States about his interactions with the Russians during the transition,” Comey said in response to a question from House Oversight Committee chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.).
NBC News reporter Mike Memoli noted the apparent inconsistencies between Comey’s testimony to Congress and his interview with NBC’s Nicolle Wallace just days prior.
Comey, to Wallace 12/9: Q: What did he think they were coming there for?
Comey, to Wallace 12/9: Q: What did he think they were coming there for? COMEY: "I don’t think he knew. We didn’t tell him."
Comey, to Gowdy 12/17: “The Deputy Director … told him what the subject matter was. … He knew what he was going to be asked about."
The final nails are finally being hammered into the “Russian collusion” narrative’s coffin, and new developments from the past week should cause even Trump’s most hysterical critics to reconsider (which they won’t, of course).
Dan documented the death of the collusion narrative yesterday on the podcast. If you missed it – here’s what you need to know.
After speaking with the House Judiciary and Oversight Committee, fired FBI head James Comey came out firing against Fox News and Trump. “So another day of Hillary Clinton’s emails and the Steele dossier. This while the President of the United States is lying about the FBI, attacking the FBI and attacking the rule of law in this country. How does that make any sense at all?” Comey asked, before then blaming distrust of the FBI on Fox News.
Though truly, Comey should be blaming distrust of the FBI on the FBI’s actions. Even former assistant FBI counterintelligence division director Bill Priestap acknowledged that dossier wasn’t verified before being used to justify surveillance on members of the Trump campaign team. And as we documented in “Spygate,” there are countless other procedures the FBI ignored or violated in using the Steele dossier. Is concern over the FBI ignoring procedures to justify politically-motivated spying something that only concerns Fox News viewers? If so, that paints Fox News viewers in a positive light.
Of course, Comey is only deflecting to blame Fox News to deflect away from his own role in pushing the bogus dossier, which is even more bogus than we thought.
While it’s not like the dossier had any credibility in the first place, we can revise its “D-” grade for truthfulness to a straight “F” for a number of reasons.
The dossier story that Michael Cohen visited Prague to pay Russian hackers remained unverified. Cohen’s spokesman Lanny Davis (a Clinton ally) laughed off the alleged Prague trip when asked about if it happened on MSNBC, telling host Kasie Hunt “No. No. Everybody, America, we all love Kasie’s show. No, no Prague, ever, never.” And Cohen, who is now turning on Trump, still denies the Prague story and hasn’t corroborated any elements of the collusion narrative (which he probably would if it were true).
Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter Greg Miller said during a book interview that sources at the FBI and CIA don’t believe that the Prague incident ever happened. Miller said that Post reporters “literally spent weeks and months trying to run down” leads from the dossier, and that they “sent reporters through every hotel in Prague, through all over the place, just to try to figure out if he was ever there, and came away empty.” Interestingly, that fact has yet to be reported in the Washington Post.
Is there anyone not in agreement that the dossier is a politically motivated hoax, except James Comey? It’s certainly not just “Fox News” saying as much, and thus far, the only evidence of attempted foreign meddling in the 2016 election came from the Clinton camp. Comey doesn’t have a problem with that, apparently.
In the past we’ve documented how Michael Flynn was setup, having not been charged with a crime relating to collusion, but rather for misremembering the contents of a telephone conversation he had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak over sanctions. In late December 2016, the two discussed the sanctions against Russia Obama had just passed, and Kislyak promised that Russia would not react with sanctions of their own. Other sanctions related to Israel were also discussed. Flynn reportedly didn’t recall discussing sanctions when quizzed by the FBI.
At worst, it seemed that Flynn simply misremembered his conversation, which is extremely likely.
Flynn saying “yes, good reminder” when being asked about whether he discussed sanctions related to Israel with Kislyak (he did), even though the public was told Flynn lied in response to that question.
The fact that Flynn spoke with representatives from thirty other countries on December 22nd, making it likely that Flynn could’ve been confusing his calls when answering the FBI’s questions.
The revelation that Flynn had at least one other conversation with Kisylak (again, making it likely he could be truthful about the contents of a conversation he was confusing with another). Flynn thanks the FBI for this reminder (which isn’t indicative of an adversarial interview), and says he doesn’t remember if he discussed sanctions about Russia (which is radically different from a denial).
If I were asked to recall a random phone conversation while on vacation, I doubt I’d be able to do it. Add in thirty other calls, and faulty memory is to be expected. No one has yet to put forward a convincing motive for why Flynn would knowingly lie to the FBI. Given he didn’t do anything illegal, why would he bother?
For a more extensive summary, give the podcast a listen for yourself.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders blasted former FBI Director James Comey today after his comments yesterday which were critical of the President and Republicans.
Sanders issued a scathing response, telling Fox News, “I think the last person that we’re going to take any lecture from about the values of this country is from a self-admitted liar and leaker that we know James Comey to be,” she said.
Disgraced former FBI Director James Comey spoke with reporters after his interview today with the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees and hurled insults at Fox News, President Trump and Republican lawmakers.
“So another day of Hillary Clinton’s emails and the Steele dossier. This while the President of the United States is lying about the FBI, attacking the FBI and attacking the rule of law in this country. How does that make any sense at all?” Comey said to reporters.
Former FBI Director James Comey told Congress on Friday that it was “not necessary” to validate the sources in the anti-Trump dossier before citing the document in an application to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on former Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page.
According to a transcript of Comey’s testimony released on Saturday, the former FBI chief also asserted that it was “not necessary” for the FBI to assess the sources that dossier author Christopher Steele used to compile his report, which was funded by the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign.
“I think I’ve dealt with warrants where you just identify that your primary [confidential informant], or primary source, has subsources, and so long as the court is aware of that phenomenon and that you’re speaking to the reliability of the primary source, to my mind, that’s a totally legit warrant application,” he said.
Comey told lawmakers that “work was ongoing” by the time he was fired on May 9, 2017, to “to replicate, either rule in or rule out” as much of the dossier as possible.
He said that by the time he was fired on May 9, 2017, he “still didn’t know whether there was anything to it,” referring to the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Kremlin.
Comey told lawmakers that Steele was a “reliable source with a track record” and left him with little concern as to how the former British spy gathered his information.
In the interview, Congressman John Ratcliffe (R-TX) told Comey about testimony from Justice Department attorney Salley Moyer, who asserted there was a 50-50 change that the FISA warrants on Page would not have been approved without the dossier.
Comey also said he had no concerns about the process in which the Page FISA warrant was obtained.
“Did you then or do you now have any concerns about the process that occurred around the Carter Page FISA?” a Democratic lawmaker asked Comey.
“I do not,” he replied.
President Trump blasted special Counsel Robert Mueller and his “best friend” “leakin’, lyin'” James Comey today in early morning tweets.
“Robert Mueller and Leakin’ Lyin’ James Comey are Best Friends, just one of many Mueller Conflicts of Interest. And bye[sic] the way, wasn’t the woman in charge of prosecuting Jerome Corsi (who I do not know) in charge of ‘legal’ at the corrupt Clinton Foundation? A total Witch Hunt,” he wrote.
The woman prosecuting Corsi that the president referenced is likely Jeannie Rhee, a member of Robert Mueller’s team who also represented the Clinton Foundation in a 2015 lawsuit and Clinton herself in a lawsuit seeking access to her private email. Rhee also donated thousands of dollars to Clinton’s political action committee in 2015 and 2016.
The president was referring to the case against Enron’s accounting firm, Arthur Andersen, which Weissmann prosecuted.
According to the Washington Times, defense attorneys in the case said Weissmann bent or broke rules, pointing to appeals court decisions, exhibits and witness statements as proof.
“They say he intimidated witnesses by threatening indictments, created crimes that did not exist and, in one case, withheld evidence that could have aided the accused. At one hearing, an incredulous district court judge looked down at an Enron defendant and told him he was pleading guilty to a wire fraud crime that did not exist,” writes the Times.
Eventually, as the president points out, the Supreme Court overturned the convictions in the Andersen case 9-0.
The president also blasted Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, twice-demoted DOJ official Bruce Ohr (who was a key player in the dossier scandal) and his wife Nellie (not Molly) who worked for the Fusion GPS, the research firm which created the salacious and unverified anti-Trump dossier.
“Will all of the lying and leaking by the people doing the Report, & also Bruce Ohr (and his lovely wife Molly), Comey, Brennan, Clapper, & all of the many fired people of the FBI, be listed in the Report? Will the corruption within the DNC & Clinton Campaign be exposed?..And so much more!” he wrote.
On Friday, attorneys for Comey filed suit in federal court to challenge the subpoena. However, on Sunday, it was announced the former FBI Director and the Republicans had come to an agreement. The arrangement would include a transcript of the interview which will be made public within 24 hours. It also enables Comey to speak publicly about his testimony.
A public testimony, however, would hinder his ability to answer certain questions. Congressman Trey Gowdy recently appeared on Fox News and slammed Comey for his calls for a public hearing.
“The last time I saw Jim Comey in a public Congressional hearing, almost 100 times he said ‘I can’t answer in this setting,’ he continued. So why in the world would he want to go back to a setting where he knows he can’t answer all the questions? I’m sure he only wants me to have five minutes. I’m sure of that,” he said.
Early on Sunday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) joined Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo where he said he was expecting Comey to withdraw his motion to challenge the GOP subpoena.