Below is my column in the New York Post on the recently disclosed FBI investigation into the communications of Republican House staff members investigating the FBI.
Here is the column:
The House Judiciary Committee is investigating why the FBI subpoenaed the emails of leading Republican congressional staff members.
In his most recent appearance before Congress, FBI Director Christopher Wray refused to provide any new information on various scandals but seemed eager to assign past abuses to his predecessor, James Comey.
But the dates on these subpoenas do not support Wray’s use of Comey as the department’s sin eater.
Wray has tried to portray himself as in the dark on many scandals while also insisting he is a hands-on administrator. This scandal cuts against . . . well . . . both Wrays.
While many on the left still celebrate Comey’s tenure, an array of serious constitutional violations have been established as occurring under his leadership, including massive unconstitutional surveillance practices, false statements to courts and his own individual violations, such as stealing FBI material and leaking the contents to the press after his termination.
I testified Friday on the abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act under Comey and the need for Congress to end or to reform Section 702 under that act.
The House Judiciary Committee is investigating why roughly five years ago the FBI reportedly seized emails from Google belonging to Kash Patel, the chief investigator for then-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, as he and other staff were making headway in their examination of the Russian collusion investigation, including political bias and false statements by FBI officials.
That was shortly before the release of the report exposing the failures in the Russia collusion scandal. A second staffer was also targeted.
The letter from the Committee to the Justice Department refers to subpoenas issued to Google in 2017 for emails and cellphone data.
The demand seems quintessentially Comey-esque.
Former FBI Director James Comey has been all the rage on the speaking circuit discussing his curious view of “ethical leadership,” which often seemed to include the knowing violation of constitutional provisions or agency rules.
He thrilled audiences, for example, with his lighthearted description of how he violated department rules to nail Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.
He delighted audiences with how he told underlings “let’s just send a couple guys over” to trap Flynn.
Yet Just the News reportedly has the subpoenas and states they were dated Nov. 20, 2017, with the materials to be sent to the Department of Justice by Dec. 5, 2017.
Comey was fired in May 2017, and Wray began his tenure in August 2017. It is not clear if this targeting of congressional staffers began under Comey.
It is hard to imagine such an extraordinary move being taken without the director’s knowledge.
So Wray is either engaging in willful blindness or failed to exercise control of his own department.
There was a time when members of both parties would be outraged and unified in responding to such tactics by a federal agency.
All members should want to know the rationale for this intrusive move by the FBI as it was being investigated by these aides.
James Madison designed a constitutional system with a frank understanding of the factional and petty impulses of politicians.
Yet he believed he had created a system of checks and balances that could rely on the institutional self-interest of members to jealously protect their powers under Article I.
Madison believed that despite party affiliations, “ambition must be made to counteract ambition.”
Madison never envisioned the 118th Congress, where politics regularly trumps institutional and constitutional values.
The ambitions rarely seem to run toward constitutional protections and privileges.
Democrats certainly disagree with Republicans on the Russian-collusion investigation, and they are no fans of Patel or Nunes.
But there is a far more important issue at stake in this controversy.
Subpoenaing the records of members of Congress or their staffs is a direct challenge to the oversight and legislative functions under Article I of the Constitution.
The FBI knew Google would withhold notice of the subpoenas for five years.
Wray may have to offer more than “Damn that Comey” on this one.
Jonathan Turley is an attorney and professor at George Washington University Law School.
Conservatives loved former FBI agent G. Gordon Libby.
Remember he’s the guy that participated in breaking into the Democratic Headquarters in Washington DC apparently to cheat by stealing documents.
He’s also the same guy that was going to firebomb the Brookings Institution (Democratic think tank) to also steal documents.
The plan, supported by Nixon, was for the White House crew to purchase a fire engine, then firebomb a building in downtown DC. Then Nixon’s guys would wear firefighter uniforms to steal the documents.
John Dean (Nixon’s Attorney) warned Nixon himself that if anyone got killed in the Republican’s terrorist attack firebombing a building – that Nixon could be indicted for manslaughter and end up prison.
Nixon not wanting to risk longterm prison time, decided to call off the arson attack.
Conservatives do love some FBI officials, just those disloyal to their Oath of Office! Wray should take this as a compliment – he’s too loyal for most Conservatives!
Are you even slightly knowledgeable regarding anything you claim.
You can hate Nixon all you want – there are good reasons to do so.
But it is a FACT that Nixon was thoroughly unaware of what AG John Mitchell’s plumbers were up to – until AFTER it happened. Nixon’s actual involvement was in securing funds to “cover it up” after the fact.
Unlike Democrats today – Nixon did not have a compliant FBI nor a press that would do that for him.
To this day there remains a great deal of debate over What the Plumbers were up to.
What they were NOT upto was trying to meddle int he election. George McGovern stood ZERO chance of winning the election.
Nor is bringing Nixon up at the moment particularly helpful to those on the Left.
The articles of impeachment against Nixon identify Nixon’s attempts and FAILURE to use the IRS and FBI in EXACTLY the way that Democrats have done. To target enemies and to benefit friends.
But the FBI and IRS under Nixon REFUSED.
While for the past decade they have been the entirely capitured adjunct of the democratic party.
Was Nixon an embarrasment as president absolutely, Though he was a light weight in comparison to Lyndon Johnson.
Finally Nixon was a republican of a different era. Nixon was a PROGRESSIVE republican.
As many on the left noted Nixon was one of the first to propose universal healthcare.
Nixon created OSHA, the EPA, The Clean Water and Clean Air Acts and a long host of progressive wishlist items.
Nixon was nearly as bad a president as Biden and very nearly identical in policies and politics.
Do you think that all that matters is that he had an R after his name ?
Nixon was the the left of nearly all republicans today, and many democrats.
” Nixon did not have a compliant FBI “
He didn’t for the exposure of Nixon came from the FBI deputy director, W. Mark Felt.
re: John B. Say
22,000 U.S. troop casualties lost in Vietnam for purely political reasons. This was revealed by declassifying Haldeman’s notes (Nixon White House aide) in 2007.
Candidate Nixon was running against President LBJ’s unpopular war. Nixon was running on a “anti-war” platform.
One problem, LBJ had a pretty strong peace deal with North Vietnam. So Candidate Nixon and Kissinger sabotaged the peace deal in 1968 and extending the Vietnam War until 1973.
Candidate Nixon (having no presidential authority at that time) contacted foreign governments to sabotage the deal. Highly disloyal and illegal for anyone acting as an arm of the U.S. government.
Delaying the Vietnam War resulted in 22,000 American additional troop casualties.
I’ve read several books on Watergate and every book states the opposite of your claim. Nixon was a “micro-manager control freak”, involved in every detail of every crime. Nixon didn’t delegate ambiguous orders to subordinates to create plausible deniability. That’s how he got caught, he was deeply involved in every detail.
One book even said Nixon was so much of a “micro-manager control freak”, that he personally would get involved with WH state dinners – arranging the forks, knives, glasses and napkins himself. Usually a job performed by First Ladies, not presidents.
This nonsense has been debunked long ago.
LBJ did not have a deal. He was not close to a deal.
He could not even get the NVA to agree to the shape of the table to negotiate at.
Regardless, LBJ and Democrats OWN the Vietnam War. Do you really want to delve inton the misconduct of LBJ ?
Do you really want to look at the events in the Golf of Tonkin ?
Or the rest of LBJ’s idiotic and often illegal management and expansion of the conflict ?
Even JFK is responsible for the assassination of Diem – after there was little hope of South Vietnam holding together as a country.
While Nixon lied about having “a plan” to bring about peace – or atleast a plan with more detail that bomb the crap out of the NVA until they come to the table – which BTW worked. Regardless, Nixon got the US out of Vietnam.
LBJ did not.
You stupidly claim that Nixon as a private citizen thwarted LBJ’s efforts at peace.
RIGHT. Beligerant forign governemnt sue for peace all the time with private citizens of hostile governments while turning their back on the actual govenrment?
The North Vietnamese did not make a deal with LBJ because they had no interest in a deal at the time.
Nixon was not a particularly good president – though he was head and shoulders above LBJ or even Biden.
But just because he was a poor president does not mean every stupid left wing nut claim regarding him is true.
John Dean was the watergate breakin mastermind who set it all up – who was controlling him is beyond me, but he did have his future wife of the watergate hookers crowd and their whoring out to foreign political people as an issue –
Nixon had no idea what was going on and John Dean comes to Nixon and explains what he did – it’s on the Nixon tapes.
The demoncrat party embraced Dean and set up Nixon. Dean is now along time libturd left wing whacko hero.
Congratulations for knowing nothing.
I think all you all are wrong! Remember the nineties when you had to kil someone? How do we know Wray isn’t under duress? He left a ten million job for this cheap one… I believe he is making dissisions bc he is under duress. And because he’s at the top …no one is hearing his signal. Lajes86 545499a.
Well I hope the ‘Assisted Living’ is better than this place. I asked the Nurses if they could change my Depends and Nurse Ratched told me that I had to wait until Second-Shift. I swear She’s lookin more like Hillary every day.
There is nothin worse than havin to be sitting around in a Hot Tub of Chicken Noddle Soup all day. The Food sucks and It’s a good thing I skipped the Prune Juice today. At least Joey has that nice little Baby Sitter to help out.
“HOSTIS PUBLICUS”
__________________
“Public Enemy No. 1”
Is that what the photo in the upper left corner of this article is?
It sure doesn’t look like Nero.
_______________________
Rome: the Republic and the Empire
The expression enemy of the people dates to Imperial Rome.[6] The Senate declared Emperor Nero a hostis publicus in AD 68.[7] Its direct translation is “public enemy”. Whereas “public” is currently used in English to describe something related to collectivity at large, with an implication towards government or the State, the Latin word “publicus” could, in addition to that meaning, also refer directly to people, making it the equivalent of the genitive of populus (“people”), populi (“popular” or “of the people”). Thus, “public enemy” and “enemy of the people” are, etymologically, near synonyms.
– Wikipedia
Biden met with an Israeli leader in the whitehouse today. The big guy had a prepared written script to address the Israeli leader. This is unbelievable. In his second term the whitehouse will be an assisted living facility.
Assisted Living or Memory Care?
George, I can see Biden waking up in the middle of the night and going into the Oval Office to relieve himself.
OT, African American politician receives racist hate mail after escaping the Democrat plantation :
https://www.dailywire.com/news/mesha-mainor-left-the-democratic-party-and-the-hate-mail-just-keeps-coming
The history of this era … from Obama to Trump to Biden and what’s next … will be a fascinating read. I hope justice and our Constitution, especially its first amendment prevail so those who embrace them will be the ones writing that history.
Kemp, Trump shutting up about 2020 ain’t going to help Georgia! Cause everybody already KNOWS that our elections are fixed! by?
I hope our country prevails. It’s getting more doubtful by the day.
Very True. We don’t put up with those that try to shove it our face.
🇺🇸
The Bidens’ Influence Peddling Timeline
https://oversight.house.gov/the-bidens-influence-peddling-timeline/
Lawmakers discovered that the Biden family and business associates created a web of more than 20 companies, most of which were formed after Joe Biden became vice president. Additionally, they said they discovered that bank records so far have shown that the Biden family and their associates received more than $10 million from foreign nationals and their related companies.
The first major scheme on the timeline is in 2013
https://justthenews.com/government/congress/house-oversight-committee-releases-timeline-biden-familys-alleged-influence?utm_source=breaking&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter
It’s like those old WWII movie scenes where the SS and Gestapo ravage the people and the nation.
Achtung!!!
Schnell, Schnell!!!
The horrors of Nazi Germany come to life right here in River City.
The Judicial and Legislative branches had better hurry up and save the republic, fast!
It’s going, going, gone!
Someone at HQ is studying up on the Gestapo, Stasi, OVRA, and KGB tactics for sure. Last Friday, the 14th of July, marked the 90th anniversary of the abolition of all political parties EXCEPT National Socialism in Germany. The Gestapo was created on April 26, 1933, and it didn’t take them long to begin their reign of terror. It took Hitler and his ghouls less than six months from January 6, 1933 to the 14th of July to transform Germany into a bloodthirsty dictatorship. Just sayin’…
Just happenin’…
I got stuck in moderation because of barnyard language.
Our resident troll AKA ‘anonymous’ came into focus with this book review.
I read this at another blog
Whether its purveyor is an advertiser, a political spin doctor or a cocktail-party blowhard, he argued, this form of dishonesty is rooted in a desire to make an impression on the listener, with no real interest in the underlying facts. “By virtue of this,” Professor Frankfurt concluded, “bullstuff is the greater enemy of truth than lies are.”
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-books-popularity-seemed-to-be.html
Wait!
There is “another blog?”
Is it the Marx Ipsa Loquitur Blog?
“HOSTIS PUBLICUS”
__________________
Rome: the Republic and the Empire
The expression enemy of the people dates to Imperial Rome.[6] The Senate declared Emperor Nero a hostis publicus in AD 68.[7] Its direct translation is “public enemy”. Whereas “public” is currently used in English to describe something related to collectivity at large, with an implication towards government or the State, the Latin word “publicus” could, in addition to that meaning, also refer directly to people, making it the equivalent of the genitive of populus (“people”), populi (“popular” or “of the people”). Thus, “public enemy” and “enemy of the people” are, etymologically, near synonyms.
– Wikipedia
“So Wray is either engaging in willful blindness or failed to exercise control of his own department.” Or 3.) He’s just in-your-face lying knowing there will be zero consequences for doing so. Even if fired or impeached, he’ll never be prosecuted for any past, current, or future acts and will have a cushy taxpayer-paid pension to retire on.
So, the georgians are working tgeir way back to slavery? They rather eat with chop sticks and be the mules pulling the plows. Humm! Who would of guessed? Or maybe those setting the dominion machines are planning big retirements?
What are you talking about?
Where did JAFO say anything about slavery? Chop sticks? Mules? Dominion voting machines?
No worries, UpstateFarmer. After reading other “Paula” comments it’s obvious they were poorly typewritten by a troop of baboons in an effort to rewrite Shakespeare.
JAFO,
What a fascinating mental image you created . . . very nice!
Why, for God’s sake, why?
Jonathan: No two ways about. DJT is about to be indicted in two other cases. Here they are and why I understand from my sources that DJT has a new theme song playing at his rallies “Stop Picking on Me”–the version by The Muffs:
1. Down in Georgia the state Supreme Court just rejected DJT’s emergency petition to stop DA Fani Willis’ investigation of the Trumpster’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. For those who don’t recall back in March DJT’s lawyers filed a petition with Fulton County Judge Robert McBierney to stop Willis’ probe. McBierney has yet to rule. Sensing he would lose the petition DJT did an end-run and appealed directly to the Georgia SC. So DJT’s last desperate attempt to prevent his indictment has failed in Georgia and look for the hammer to come down on him and his co-conspirators sometime early next month.
2. Not to be outdone, SC Jack Smith has just informed DJT he is a “target” of the investigation of the Jan.6 insurrection. This means Jack Smith is about to indict Trump once again–this time in DC. DJT knows DC pretty well so he won’t have a problem finding the federal court house. It will be Miami redux–a long parade of cars winding through the streets of DC–arrest and arraignment. DJT should be used to that by now.
The thing I keep scratching my head about is why, after losing the over 60 lawsuits he filed contesting the election results and being told by his own consulting firms they could find no evidence of election “fraud”, DJT just didn’t just give up. Other candidates for office who have filed similar lawsuits in the past abided by court decisions. They licked there wounds, went into private life or prepared for the next campaign. But not the Trumpster. He doubled down and Jan. 6 was the result. Even when he was forced to leave the WH on Jan. 20 he took all those top secret docs back to Mar-a-Lago and refused to return them. Had he just returned the docs when requested, like Joe Biden and Mile Pence, he never would have been indicted by Jack Smith.
Everything DJT has done involved self-inflicted wounds. The simple answer is that DJT actually believes he is above the law that applies to every other citizen. He will soon find out that is not the case. But the Q remains. Why didn’t Trump just concede his loss, go back to playing golf every day and prepare for the campaign next year? Richard Nixon did that in 1960 when he lost to JFK. Some in his campaign charged voter fraud in Texas and Illinois. Nixon refused to contest the election and retuned to California and write his memoirs. But he returned from obscurity in 1968 and won the presidential election. Why didn’t DJT take the same course? That will bedevil historians for years to come–trying to explain what went terribly wrong in the life of DJT.
Dennis McIntyre, did you happen to notice that the subject is Christopher Wray and wether he was aware of the FBI surveillance of Republican politicians. This is typical Dennis McIntyre. When he has no counter argument that might enlighten us he switches to his DJT bad man narrative. This is commonly known as deflection and it is a well known tactic of the dishonest. Slip the shoe on Dennis it will fit you perfectly.
TIT, Wray morphs into Trump.
I wonder if the health insurers now have code for “TDS” treatment.
DA Willis, GovKemp, jack Smith, WHOM VOTED for you? Kemp has 40 thousbnd followers on facebook. Guessing most of them from Georgia. Do you plan on living on planet earth? Jemp didn’t have enough January, I’m guessing. But I’m sure glad that I’m not YOU!
Dennis. The absence of a named crime deafening. Trump is just their latest ham sandwich.
Why didn’t Al Gore Jr. accept defeat?
This applies to you, Dennis:
“Two IRS whistleblowers are currently testifying before Congress, under oath, about the multi-pronged pressure applied by the DOJ to protect Hunter Biden from more serious prosecution.
Nobody watching CNN or MSNBC would, of course, have any idea that this is happening.”
@ggreenwald
Christopher Wray didn’t support or know anything about the continuing Obama Coup D’etat in America.
__________________________________________________________________________________
“We will stop him.”
– Peter Strzok to FBI paramour Lisa Page
___________________________________
“[Obama] wants to know everything we’re doing.”
– Lisa Page to FBI paramour Peter Strzok
___________________________________
“I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office — that there’s no way he gets elected — but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before 40.”
– Peter Strzok to FBI parmour Lisa Page
_________________________________
“People on the 7th floor to include Director are fired up about this [Trump] server.”
– Bill Priestap
Wray was born on the 7th Floor.
Wray was not only steeped in the tyranny of the Global Communist Deep Deep State Swamp,
Wray IS the tyranny of the Global Communist Deep Deep State Swamp.
Through and through.
Someone needs to open an investigation into the republican party to find out if they have any ties to America and democracy.
They’re working on it .. .
““How concerned are you that James Comer, the chairman of the committee, was knowingly [or] unknowingly, working with, co-opted by a foreign agent?” Psaki asked Oversight Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on her show “Inside with Jen Psaki.”
* story
FW, is that how that old Ben Franklin quote goes, “We gave you a democracy, if you can keep it?”
______________________________________________________________________________
WE GAVE YOU A DEMOCRACY, IF YOU CAN KEEP IT.
______________________________________________
Obviously, you are adverse to Franklin, which makes you similarly adverse to Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Adams, Jay et al., their Constitution, their Bill of Rights, actual patriotic Americans and America.
Dang, Fishy, you are one formidable, direct, and mortal enemy of the American restricted-vote republic provided literally as such by its Founders.
To wit,
ENTITLED TO VOTE
Merriam-Webster
republic
noun
re·pub·lic ri-ˈpə-blik
1 b (1) : a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law
Hey Fishy, have you happened to notice that it’s Democrats who are calling for more censorship but not Republicans. Let me put it together for you. Free speech. America, democracy. What part do you not get?
You mean the Democrat Communist Party isn’t already going after them??
Don’t forget Rule of Law!
Like, let’s look at the Biden’s for example…
They can do *all* of this —>
1) buy a gun illegally
2) lie on the federal background check form
3) fail to register as a foreign agent
4) accept bribes from foreign adversaries (10% to Big Guy!)
5) illegally launder foreign bribe money thru shell companies into secret family bank accounts
6) fail to pay millions in taxes
7) smuggle cocaine into the WH
And the DOJ will do *nothing but cover it up*….then target the Biden regime’s political adversaries…
Look over there! Trump bad! Lock HIM up!
Trump supporters bad! Domestic extremists! Lock THEM all up!
Not very American or Democratic, eh Fishbrains?
More like: Stalinesque.
We watched the FBI dramatically raid Trump’s Mar a Lago and rifle thru Melania’s closet –over boxes of documents.
Wouldn’t it have been amazing to see the Biden FBI raid the Biden guest house? Or the Biden garage? Or the Hunter Biden storage unit?
Oops too bad, the Bidens were tipped off and the raids were foiled. So we’ll just never know.
Obstruction? What obstruction?
Biden lawyers got to go thru everything first – before the FBI – to take care of what needed ‘taking care of’….Wink wink.
Conspiracy? What in-your-face Biden family pay-to-play criminal conspiracy?
See how law & order works in a Banana Republic run by Democrat thugs?
Anonymous: you members of the Trump Cult don’t speak for “we”–meaning the majority of Americans. There would have been no need for a search warrant if Trump had voluntarily returned the documents, which he had no right to possess in the first place, and which the NARA politely asked to be returned for months and months. There was no need to “raid” Biden’s home or any other place–OUR President requested that a search be made to see if there were any classified documents that got taken inadvertently–and so did Pence–and these documents were promptly returned. So there was no “tip off”–Biden is the one who instituted the search. And, neither Biden nor Pence deliberately stole documents after being told not to take them.
If I go to China, will I be Chinese?
If I [invade] China, will I be Chinese?
“Anonymous: you members of the Trump Cult don’t speak for “we”–meaning the majority of Americans”
Uh, yes we do. You can sit down and shut it.
Riiight Natacha…er….Gigi….all this is happening against Trump because….say it with me now…..
NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!
I don’t think you read this excerpt from the other comment from Mike Davis that was posted for you earlier.
Important to restate it here:
“At the same time, Garland secretly colluded with Biden’s personal attorneys for months to coverup Biden’s 5 sets of stolen classified records from the Obama White House and even the Senate, moved several times, accessible by the Biden’s Chinese agent, and almost certainly used by the Bidens to secure millions in foreign bribes and other corruption from Ukraine, China, and other trouble spots.”
Did you catch that Gigi? This is the important part: “and almost certainly used by the Bidens to secure millions in foreign bribes” BINGO!
So of course there was *no FBI raid* of the stolen classifed documents in all the various unsecured locations Joe Biden kept them, because why? Say it with us Gigi: N o O n e I s A b o v e T h e L a w!
“and almost certainly used by the Bidens to secure millions in foreign bribes…” BINGO!
Impeach President Biden!
Gigi
How ill informed can one person be??
Biden had classified documents in his possession from when he was a senator!! The only way he could possess these was to have taken them from a secure skiff in the capital. Are you honestly going to claim he took them by accident??
I get sick of reading your cut and pastes from the DNC daily talking point emails. It’s pretty obvious that You’re a troll, but you’re not even a very good one.