Justice Department Watchdog Started 10 New Investigations of the FBI Since Last Year

Several probes appear to be linked to bureau's actions before 2016 presidential election

The government watchdog tasked with oversight of the FBI initiated 10 new investigations of the bureau since last year, according to a review of archived versions of the page tracking the agency’s ongoing work. The Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is best known for its ongoing investigation of the FBI’s use of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to spy on Trump-campaign associate Carter Page. The inspector general has nearly completed that investigation and is expected to release a report in the coming weeks. But the FISA inquiry is one of at least six inspector general inquiries which appear to be directly related to FBI and DOJ activities targeting the Trump campaign before the 2016 presidential election. All six of the investigations were made public on the OIG’s Ongoing Work page between January 2018 and April this year.

In three separate investigations, the inspector general is reviewing the FBI’s use of undercover operations, confidential human sources, and covert contracts. Evidence made public since the 2016 election suggests that all three of these bureau components were involved in the counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign. The inspector general is also scrutinizing how the FBI handles misconduct investigations of its employees. This probe may include the many FBI officials who have either been fired from or left the bureau since 2017. The fired FBI officials include Director James Comey, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok.

The watchdog inquiry into the FBI confidential human sources program may in part focus on former British spy Christopher Steele. The bureau hired Steele in 2016 and paid him to provide raw intelligence from his notorious anti-Trump dossier. The bureau fired Steele after learning that he provided the same intelligence to news media in violation of the rules for confidential human sources. Before firing Steele, the bureau used information from his dossier as evidence to obtain a warrant to surveil Page. Top FBI and DOJ officials signed off on the warrant despite evidence that Steele was biased against Trump and without verifying the claims in his dossier. The application for the FISA warrant omitted the fact that the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee paid for the dossier. In one of the most recent disclosures about Steele, notes by State Department official Kathleen Kavalec show that the FBI was likely aware that Steele was not a reliable source well before securing a warrant using Steele’s dossier as evidence. Notably, the OIG is assessing “the FBI’s process of determining reliability and appropriateness of confidential human sources.” The FBI also used at least one undercover agent, Stefan Halper, to target Trump-campaign associates, including Page and George Papadopoulos. Another undercover agent, Azra Turk, worked alongside Halper to target Papadopoulos, but it is not known if she was sent by the FBI or another agency.

The watchdog’s scrutiny of the FBI’s covert contracts is likely to cover more than one component since these agreements are used by different branches of the bureau. Steele’s contract with the FBI was likely covert. Halper was an FBI informant and worked for a think tank paid by the Department of Defense. The inspector general is also looking into the DOJ’s “use of immigration sponsorship programs.” This probe may review how Steele lobbied DOJ official Bruce Ohr for a visa for Russia billionaire Oleg Deripaska. The inspector general’s office did not respond to a phone call requesting a comment.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/justice-department-watchdog-started-10-new-investigations-of-the-fbi-since-last-year_2950650.html

Ginsburg sides with conservative justices in ruling over prison sentence

The Supreme Court on Monday found that a criminal defendant can be sentenced for violating his supervised release, even if the release expires while he is incarcerated ahead of facing new charges. The justices, divided in the 5-4 decision, ruled against Jason Mont's argument that a district court shouldn't be able to charge him for violating his release because the term had expired at the time of the new sentencing. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sided with conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh in the majority. Justice Neil Gorsuch joined liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan in opposing the decision.

Mont had previously been convicted on felony drug and gun charges and served 84 months in prison before beginning a five-year supervised release due to end in March 2017. However, he faced other charges in 2015 and 2016 and was incarcerated in state jail in June 2016. After several delays of a hearing, a district court heard and ruled that Mont had violated his supervised release and imposed another prison sentence. Mont had opposed the new 42-month sentence, set to run after completing the sentence for his new charges, which he pleaded guilty to. He said that he shouldn't face the new sentence because the court had repeatedly delayed the hearing until after the end date for his supervised release term.

Thomas wrote in the majority opinion that "time in pretrial detention constitutes supervised release only if the charges against the defendant are dismissed or the defendant is acquitted." "This ensures that the defendant is not faulted for conduct he might not have committed, while otherwise giving full effect to the lawful judgment previously imposed on the defendant." However, Sotomayor wrote in the dissenting opinion that she doesn't agree with the majority's reasoning "that a person 'is imprisoned in connection with a conviction' before any conviction has occurred."

https://thehill.com/regulation/446632-ginsburg-sides-with-conservative-justices-in-ruling-over-prison-sentence

Mueller witness charged in child pornography case

Important Snippet: Look at who his attorney is

Nader had frequent access to almost every White House – Democrat and Republican – since President Ronald Reagan was in office –except for the Obama White House– sources and records showed. One of his lawyers shepherding him through seven interviews with Mueller's prosecutors, Kathryn Ruemmler, was White House counsel under Obama.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mueller-witness-charged-child-pornography-case/story?id=63461025

So…wonder how he was connected GHWB

>>6672148

>>6672140

>>6672139

He has quite a political history, and not in a good way, I wonder if he has connections to Franklin if that is where this started for him.

>>6672174

Her last decision perhaps, we'll have to see.

>>6672191

I knew that would be the case, can we tie him to Franklin?

>>6672028

>>6672230

Agreed..I tried not easy at all, I guess it will show up when the time is right.

>>6672129

Just an observational side note here, Where is Phillip? Is it usual that he would not participate in these events?

Camilla looks as though she struggles to fight back the tears. Charles can't even look at anyone.

>>6672383

Ahh, you are correct, I do remember now. Thank You. I guess I really didn't think of dinner event as a duty, meaning we all have to eat, kek!

Ex-Trump aide Hicks agrees to hand over campaign documents to Congress

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, once a close aide to President Donald Trump, has agreed to turn over documents related to his 2016 election campaign to congressional investigators, a top Democratic lawmaker said on Tuesday. The agreement marks a step forward for House of Representatives Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler in investigations of Republican Trump and his inner circle, digging into the campaign, his turbulent presidency and business interests.

Hicks, Trump’s former campaign press secretary, agreed to supply the documents from the campaign, despite a White House directive advising her not to provide the committee with material from her subsequent time at the White House. She and former White House lawyer Annie Donaldson were subpoenaed on May 21 by the panel as part of its inquiry into whether Trump obstructed Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and contacts between Trump’s campaign and Moscow.

Hicks’ attorney Robert Trout said in a letter to Nadler that Hicks would not hand over documents related to Trump’s time in the White House and his presidential transition period because administration attorneys believe the papers may be subject to a claim of executive privilege by Trump. Trout said that Hicks was handing over a computer disc containing documents from Trump’s campaign period that were not previously given to the committee. He said his law firm would not provide any documents it had received from the White House and transition team to prepare Hicks for her testimony before congressional committees or Mueller’s investigation.

The White House instructed Hicks and Donaldson not to turn over records related to the administration, saying the material involves executive branch confidentiality interests and executive privilege. Hicks resigned from her White House job in February 2018. The two former aides “do not have the legal right to disclose the White House records to third parties,” White House counsel Pat Cipollone said in a letter to Nadler.

Nadler commended Hicks for providing “some documents” relating to the campaign. “I thank her for that show of good faith,” Nadler said in a statement. The Democrat criticized what he called Trump’s “continued obstruction of Congress.” Nadler said: “The president has no lawful basis for preventing these witnesses from complying with our request.” The committee chairman told reporters that Hicks and Donaldson, a former aide to ex-White House counsel Don McGahn, could face contempt proceedings if they do not comply. “When we ask for documents to be turned over, we expect all of the documents to be turned over. We’re the Congress of the United States,” said Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democrat on Nadler’s committee. “The president and the White House continue to play games. It’s not a game,” Raskin said. Donaldson did not respond to requests for comment.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-congress/ex-trump-aide-hicks-agrees-to-hand-over-campaign-documents-to-congress-idUSKCN1T522Y?il=0