>>18537690

tyb

FBI Is Now A 'Weaponized Apparatchik' Of The Presidential Administration: Whistleblower

There’s a growing divide between the rank-and-file officers of the FBI and upper management, according to FBI agent-turned-whistleblower Steve Friend, and it’s those at the top who are pushing a political agenda.

“I spent close to nine years in the FBI, spent a good chunk of my time just keeping my head down and working the cases in front of me,” Friend noted in a March 14 interview with NTD News, The Epoch Times’ sister outlet.

“There are a lot of agents that sort of share that sentiment and just want to drive the mission forward. Unfortunately, there’s a big disconnect between the rank-and-file and the management class, and as you climb that ladder, it’s tending to become more and more political.”

The evidence, Friend said, could be seen in the bureau’s disparate treatment of pro-life activists—like Mark Houck, whose home was raided by the FBI over an altercation outside of a Planned Parenthood—and pro-abortion activists, like those who protested outside of Supreme Court justices’ homes and were never investigated.

“I think there’s an argument to be made that the FBI has now just become a weaponized apparatchik of the presidential administration,” he added, holding that public trust in the agency has diminished largely as a result of the perception of political bias.

Blowing the Whistle

Friend—now a senior fellow at the Center for Renewing America—previously worked as a special agent in the FBI’s Jacksonville, Florida, office, but was suspended from the agency after he came forward last September with concerns about how the bureau was handling child sexual abuse cases and allegations that cases were being inappropriately assigned.

Friend had also objected to the FBI’s use of SWAT teams to arrest individuals suspected of committing misdemeanors during the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

According to a March 6 letter (pdf) written by whistleblower organization Empower Oversight, Friend was informed in December by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) that, “after careful consideration,” the OIG had decided against opening an investigation into his allegations.

However, on March 16, DOJ Assistant Inspector General Sean O’Neill responded that DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz “still intends to schedule an interview with Mr. Friend regarding his disclosures.”

Views on Jan. 6

Prior to his suspension, Friend was involved in investigations relating to the Jan. 6 Capitol breach—an incident he said could only be fully understood through “radical transparency.”

“I’m hoping that this slow drip of surveillance footage is just eventually abandoned, and we just get the whole amount of it,” he said, alluding to the recent exposés aired by Fox News’ Tucker Carlson.

“There’s no reason why it should be leaked out slowly because that just gives cannon fodder to both sides to accuse the other of cherry-picking their information.”

As for his views on the events of that day, Friend said he thought the incident involved a “mixed bag” of people who did some “deplorable and abhorrent” things and should be held accountable and those who were just there to exercise their First Amendment rights.

Read more here…

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/fbi-now-weaponized-apparatchik-presidential-administration-whistleblower

Joy Behar: Arrest Trump This Week Or Else ‘We Will No Longer Have a Country’

ABC’s The View host Joy Behar told her co-hosts that she believes if former President Donald Trump is not arrested this week “we will not have a country.”

Following Trump’s announcement that he expects to be arrested on Tuesday as part of a “highly political” campaign to silence him and disenfranchise his supporters, Behar said:

“Indictments against Trump could reportedly happen at any time now. For those keeping score, here’s a speed round of investigations he’s facing. In Georgia, he is being investigated for election interference for pressuring state officials to find more votes. Remember, ‘I just find want to find 11,780 votes,’ remember that. In Florida, the DOJ just subpoenaed dozens of Mar-a-Lago employees over his hoarding of classified documents. Here in New York State, the Manhattan DA could indict him over a hush money payment to porn Star Stormy Daniels.”

Behar continued her unhinged rant, saying, “You can’t get a job in retail if you’re under indictment, yet he’ll be running for president.”

Co-host Ana Navarro said, “The point earlier, that it’s going to embolden him and his supporters, that’s the January 6th point. If you confirm Joe Biden as the legitimate president, all hell is going to break loose.

“We are going to come out and do that. It’s called thuggery, and it needs to stop, and American people can’t be held hostage by a thug.”

Behar said, “You won’t have a country. If he’s not indicted, you don’t have a country. We won’t have the same country we are used to.”

https://newspunch.com/joy-behar-arrest-trump-this-week-or-else-we-will-no-longer-have-a-country/

Manhattan DA's Trump case rests on shaky legal, ethical ground, experts say

Ordinarily, such a charge would be considered a misdemeanor and come with a two-year statue of limitation.

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday shocked the world with an announcement that he expects to be arrested Tuesday in connection with an ongoing investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a case legal scholars have suggested has a questionable legal basis.

The investigation involves Trump's 2016 alleged payment of $130,000 in hush money to Stormy Daniels via his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, whom he later reimbursed.

While Bragg has not announced specific charges, legal scholars such as George Washington University Professor Jonathan Turley are predicting an indictment for falsifying business records under New York Section 175. Such a charge would likely be based on Trump's labeling his reimbursement of Cohen as a legal expense.

Trump's attorney, Joe Tacopina has argued that Trump's payment to Cohen was in fact a legitimate legal fee. Trump, he noted, never directly paid Daniels any money. Rather, he only paid his own lawyer for services rendered, i.e. legal fees.

"The payments were made to a lawyer, not to Stormy Daniels," Tacopina said last week on MSNBC. "The payments were made to Donald Trump's lawyer, which would be considered legal fees. Michael Cohen … was his lawyer at the time and advised him that this was the proper way to do this to protect himself and his family from embarrassment. It's as simple as that."

The host then argued that the money Trump paid to Cohen went to Stormy Daniels and was therefore not a legal fee.

"It went to Stormy Daniels from Michael Cohen," the Trump attorney countered. "He decided he was going to do it this way and asked for the reimbursement of what he billed as legal fees. That is not a crime."

Ordinarily, such a charge would be considered a misdemeanor subject to a two-year statute of limitation, meaning Bragg cannot pursue it solely on this basis. Bragg does, however, have the discretion to convert it into a Class E felony, if he can prove that Trump's alleged "intent to defraud involved further criminal intent to either hide the commission of another crime or to assist in the commission of that other crime," according to Saland Law.

In order to meet even the threshhold standard for prosecution, Bragg would therefore need to argue that Trump falsified business records concealing his reported "hush money" payment to Daniels with the intent to conceal another crime.

As a hush money payment to ensure silence about an affair would not be illegal in and of itself, Bragg's case would likely hinge on a possible campaign finance violation. If Cohen's payment to Daniels constituted an illegal campaign contribution, then the falsification of records would have concealed an underlying crime, providing legal predicate for a Class E felony charge of first degree falsifying business records. Trump would face up to four years in prison if convicted on the charge.

moar

https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/manhattan-das-trump-case-rests-shaky-legal-ground-legal-experts-say

“He Cannot Hide From His Violations of the Law” – Nancy Pelosi Trashes Trump as Soros-Backed DA Alvin Bragg Prepares to Bring Charges

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Saturday trashed Trump as radical Soros DA Alvin Bragg prepares to indict the former president.

In January the Manhattan District Attorney’s office revived its criminal investigation into Trump’s ‘hush payments’ to porn star Stephanie Clifford, AKA, Stormy Daniels and elevated the case from a misdemeanor to a felony.

Trump has been accused of paying Daniels ‘hush payments’ in a scheme to silence her and stop the story about their alleged affair from being published in the National Enquirer.

Trump has denied the affair.

This is a probe that former Manhattan DA Cy Vance decided not to pursue because he knew he didn’t have a case.

Earlier Saturday Trump said he was going to be arrested on Tuesday and called for protests.

https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi/status/1637153439367962625

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/he-cannot-hide-from-his-violations-of-the-law-nancy-pelosi-trashes-trump-as-soros-backed-da-alvin-bragg-prepares-to-bring-charges/

>>18538441

>you gotta read whatever Behar says in a mirror

msm 4am talking points