Russiagate: Barr Holds House in Contempt!

But then, don't we all? Well, they were busy getting nothing accomplished yesterday, too.

538: Congress Has Few Options Left To Make Barr Cooperate, Even holding him in contempt would be largely symbolic.  DoJ Fires Back: Contempt Vote On Barr Will Result In Full Executive-Privilege Claim On Mueller Report

Hot Air breaking, House Committee Votes To Hold Barr In Contempt  "In party line vote, House Judiciary Cmte votes to hold AG Barr in contempt of Congress. Vote was 22-12." Collins: We Waited 450 Days For Holder, Not 43

Ranking member Rep. Doug Collins said Dems are moving to a contempt vote at "lightening speed," comparing the current situation to when the 2012 House Oversight Committee waited 10 times as long to hold former AG Eric Holder in contempt. pic.twitter.com/YbggmwQqbL

— POLITICO (@politico) May 8, 2019

From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 05.08.17, Legal Insurrection: Trump Asserts Executive Privilege Over Unredacted Mueller Report. Althouse,  "This is to advise you that the president has asserted executive privilege over the entirety of the subpoenaed materials.", Said a Justice Department official, referring to the Mueller report and the underlying evidence, the NYT reports just now. Ace, White House Invokes Executive Privilege to Protect Unredacted Mueller Report, Tells Nadler and Schiff lol get fucked

Red State, BREAKING. House Democrats Melt Down As Trump Invokes Executive Privilege Over All Mueller Report Documents. It's what they do, and they do it well. Hot Air,  Nadler whines  Trump’s Using Executive-Privilege Claim To Keep Mueller From Testifying.

Nadler’s doing nothing more here than chumming the waters. Although, it’s possible that his demagoguery might have an unintended consequence — it might make Mueller a lot less willing to join the circus at a House Judiciary hearing.

Da Hill, House Democrats threaten salaries of Trump officials who block interviews. Yeah, what ev. From the NYT via Hot Air, Trump’s Opposition To Mueller Testimony Poses A Test For Barr. Barr is the Honey Badger; he don't care. Pirate's Cove lays bare what it's really all about in Queen Nancy Says Dems Cannot Accept A Second Trump Term "Of course, she and the other Barking Moonbats still haven’t accepted Trump’s first term."

Fox, Donald Trump Jr. subpoenaed by Senate Intelligence Committee, source says. That's what happen when you play with the big boys.  Axios, Senate Intel subpoenas Trump Jr. over Russia matters

Why it matters: It's the first congressional subpoena — that we know about — of one of President Trump's children. The subpoena sets up a fight that's unprecedented in the Trump era: A Republican committee chair pit against the Republican president's eldest son.

• It's also a sign that the Russia investigations in Congress aren't over despite the conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe and despite Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying it's time to move on from the Russia probe.
• A Senate Intelligence Committee spokesperson told Axios: "We do not discuss the details of witness engagements with the Committee. Throughout the investigation, the Committee has reserved the right to recall witnesses for additional testimony as needed, as every witness and witness counsel has been made aware."
• "Don and Senate Intel agreed from the very beginning that he would appear once to testify before the committee and would remain for as long as it took to answer all of their questions. He did that. We're not sure why we're fighting with Republicans," a source close to Trump Jr. told Axios.

Between the lines: Mueller, whose investigation did not find a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, did not indict Trump Jr., despite speculation that he would.

Now lets subpoena Chelsea Clinton to testify about Clinton.com and the deleted e-mails, which is a decent segue in to our "Spygate" section. The big news, which really isn't so much news as confirmation of what was obvious long ago, from John Solomon at Da Hill, Steele's stunning pre-FISA confession: Informant needed to air Trump dirt before election

If ever there were an admission that taints the FBI’s secret warrant to surveil Donald Trump’s campaign, it sat buried for more than 2 1/2 years in the files of a high-ranking State Department official.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec’s written account of her Oct. 11, 2016, meeting with FBI informant Christopher Steele shows the Hillary Clinton campaign-funded British intelligence operative admitted that his research was political and facing an Election Day deadline.

And that confession occurred 10 days before the FBI used Steele’s now-discredited dossier to justify securing a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page and the campaign’s ties to Russia.

Steele’s client “is keen to see this information come to light prior to November 8,” the date of the 2016 election, Kavalec wrote in a typed summary of her meeting with Steele and Tatyana Duran, a colleague from Steele’s Orbis Security firm. The memos were unearthed a few days ago through open-records litigation by the conservative group Citizens United.

Kavalec’s notes do not appear to have been provided to the House Intelligence Committee during its Russia probe, according to former Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.). "They tried to hide a lot of documents from us during our investigation, and it usually turns out there’s a reason for it," Nunes told me. Senate and House Judiciary investigators told me they did not know about them, even though they investigated Steele’s behavior in 2017-18. . . .

And FBI Director Wray is still covering up. Read it all. Ace, Steele Admitted His Clients Were Anxious To Get His Fake Dossier In the News Before the Election; The DOJ Played Hide-the-Ball With The Report Noting This Fact "People need to start being charged with crimes."

From Red State, Mueller Mounted A Full-Court Press To Block Release Of Comey’s Memos; Here’s Why

CNN reports that Robert Mueller tried to block the release of fired FBI Director James Comey’s memos of his conversations with President Trump over their concern that Trump and others might change their stories after reading Comey’s version of events.
Lawyers for CNN and several other media outlets argued for the release of Comey’s memos and related documents at the U.S. District Court in January 2018. At the same time, lawyers for the Special Counsel and the DOJ argued that the release of the documents would interfere with an ongoing investigation.

Mueller prosecutor Michael Dreeben joined the SC and DOJ attorneys in a private hearing with the judge. They showed him copies of the Comey memos and shared specifics about the SC investigation. They ultimately convinced the judge to rule in their favor and to seal the records.

(The CNN writer, Katelyn Polantz, emphasized that this was atypical behavior for a Freedom of Information Act request. CNN lawyers had no knowledge at the time that Dreeben or anyone from the special counsel’s office had taken the unusual step of speaking to the judge in person to keep the records confidential. It wasn’t revealed until later.)

Judge Boasberg wrote: “Having heard this, the Court is now fully convinced that disclosure ‘could reasonably be expected to interfere’ with that ongoing investigation.”
. . .
In reference to the meetings with Trump and other witnesses, Prosecutor Dreeben told the judge, “Special Counsel is attempting to determine the facts that transpired in and surrounding those meetings.”

Regarding Comey’s allegations that Trump had asked for his loyalty and requested that he drop the Flynn investigation, Dreeben explained:

In any investigation of this kind, the recollections of one witness, if disclosed to another potential witness, have the potential to influencing, advertently or inadvertently, the recollections of that witness.

CNN reports:

Shortly after the meetings with Comey, Trump and the White House had publicly contradicted the FBI director’s story, saying the President denied asking him about “letting Flynn go.” Comey told his version of the story first during congressional testimony in spring 2017. Dreeben described how the Comey memos were essential evidence in the investigation and included far more detail about the meetings than what the former FBI director had said publicly in testimony.

Dreeben’s next remark was extremely revealing. Dreeben told the judge, “In this instance, a person whose conduct is within the scope of the investigation is the President of the United States.”

So, by January 2018, the investigation had essentially become all about obstruction.

He also “told the judge about how the FBI had opened the obstruction investigation before Mueller’s appointment.”
. . .
The larger point is it tells us that only eight months into a 22 month long investigation, the Mueller team was no longer concerned with Russian collusion. If Mueller were a fair-minded, decent man, he would have let the American people know that their President was not a criminal.

Also via the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 05.08.17, Weasel Zippers gives us Comey Claims He Has No Idea What Barr Is Talking About – “The FBI Doesn’t Spy”. Mediaite, James Comey Pushes Back on AG Barr’s Spying Comments: ‘The FBI Doesn’t Spy,’ They Investigate.

Former FBI Director James @Comey says "the FBI doesn’t spy, the FBI investigates." https://t.co/UpWPnC3rbX pic.twitter.com/gibPMYKepk

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) May 8, 2019

When even Clapper is telling you they spied. Town Hall, Panic! At The DOJ? Obama's Spy Czar Nukes Comey And FBI Director Wray's Assertion That Trump Campaign Wasn't Spied On

James Clapper, a CNN contributor and former Director of National Intelligence, admitted last Friday that what the Obama administration did to the Trump campaign "meets the dictionary definition of spying."

Clapper, who served as the DNI during the Obama administration, appeared on CNN's Situation Room to discuss new revelations that the FBI sent an undercover agent to meet with George Papadopoulos in London in 2016, backtracking from his prior comments about there not being any spying.

"Was it spying?" asked host Wolf Blitzer.

"Well, yeah I guess it meets the dictionary definition of spying—surveillance or spying, a term I don't particularly like," Clapper said. "It's not a term used by intelligence people. It has a negative connotation, a rogue operation, out of control, not in compliance of the law, and that's not the case at all."

PJ Media, How Brennan and Clapper Are Still Working as Agents of Influence for Russian Military Intelligence

“Useful idiots” were people who unwittingly bought into the propaganda of the other side, and spread those ideas through a misplaced sense of right and wrong.

“Agents of influence,” are somewhere between the two. They aren’t directly employed by the enemy; but they spread enemy propaganda from a lofty position that influences ordinary people to believe it. And they do it on purpose.

Since 2016, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper have acted as agents of influence for the Russian GRU—and they had to know it.

Comey also asserted Trump’s “Frustration” Over The Russia Probe Doesn’t Let Him Off The Hook For Obstruction. Firing Comey for cause was not obstruction, it was good management.

Following yesterday's Cohen new AllahPundit follows with, Did Michael Cohen Leak The Trump Tax Information That Was Published By The NYT?

Brian Kilmeade floated this theory almost offhandedly on “Fox & Friends” this morning. There’s no evidence to support it but (a) the Times *did* note in its story that “it received the information contained in the returns from someone who had legal access to it,” which Trump’s former attorney presumably did at one point, and (b) I like it because it fits with my own half-assed speculation that maybe Cohen is trying to squeeze Trump for an unlikely pardon by reminding him how much dirt he has on him and associates like Jerry Falwell Jr.

And, thank heavens, Stormy (NSFW) is back in the story! Stormy Daniels’ Shocking Confession: I’m Not Sure Trump Is Worse Than Avenatti. Worse at what?

Daniels went on to breeze through a number of questions about Michael Avenatti, her recently indicted former attorney. Asked if she was ever attracted to Avenatti, Daniels revealed that she was actually never alone with her ex-lawyer—“not once.” Besides, she quipped, “he thought he was prettier—that’s a huge problem for me.” Responding to a follow-up—who’s a better person, Trump or Avenatti?—Daniels seemed uncharacteristically stumped, conceding, “I don’t know.”

She has notoriously bad taste in men.

Resonating Russiagate

The news from the failed Flynn sentencing drama is still resonating. From PJ Media: Happy Wednesday morning! "Flynn wasn't sentenced on Tuesday, but he was flogged. He deserves many apologies indeed." Front Page: Democrat-Appointed Judge Lambastes Flynn. A different view of the Sen. Steven's case fiasco.

This isn’t the first time Sullivan, appointed in 1994 by President Clinton, has let criminal proceedings move forward against a prominent Republican defendant in the face of prosecutorial misconduct. When proof emerged during the 2008 corruption trial of the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) that unethical prosecutors had withheld exculpatory evidence, Sullivan refused defense requests to declare a mistrial. Eight days after the guilty verdict Stevens lost his reelection bid to Democrat Mark Begich.

A more comprehensive summary of the Steven's story is  found at American Thinker in Sullivan’s Travels with Mueller by William L. Gensert, who still thinks Sullivan is trying to do the right thing. I hope so. Adam Mill at the Federalist: The Evidence Coming Out Of The Flynn Case Makes Mueller Look Worse And Worse. Yep, the whole thing stinks. Also,  Leslie McAdoo Gordon FBI Abused The Law To Keep Flynn From Using His Right To Remain Silent. Via Insty, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIALIZES ON THE FLYNN FIASCO:

Well, that was bizarre. We’re referring to the fiasco Tuesday of what was supposed to be the sentencing of Michael Flynn. The sentencing was postponed until next year, but not before federal Judge Emmet Sullivan damaged his own reputation with an extraordinary public attack on the former national security adviser for a crime he’s not been charged with or admitted to. . .

As I noted yesterday, people filed judicial ethics complaints against Brett Kavanaugh for less. But the right doesn’t play as rough as the left, even in the Trump era.

 Just One Minute: Big If True

This is a partisan stem-winder but still - the author seems able to document his point that Mueller may have railroaded Gen. Flynn by concealing frelevant and potentially exculpatory evidence.

Does Mueller's behavior sound like the sort of thing that happens all the time but shouldn't? Or has he been way out of bounds here?

Popehat: Note to Michael Flynn: Federal Court Is Not Twitter. Try not to piss off the judge who is sentencing you. The Dersh: Michael Flynn now has three options to stay out of prison

But now that the judge has signaled his willingness to consider a prison sentence, Flynn has three options – none of them good.

Flynn’s first option is to ask the judge to throw out his questionable guilty plea – but it will be difficult to do so in light of his statement at the sentencing hearing that he accepts his guilty plea and knew he was doing wrong when he lied to the FBI.

Flynn’s second option is to cooperate even more, but there may not be much more he can say or do. If he admits he withheld some cooperation that would hurt him.

The former national security adviser’s third option – a nuclear one – would be to seek to recuse Judge Sullivan because of the judge’s prejudicial misstatements about treason and about Flynn being a foreign agent while working in the White House. But this, too, may backfire, because judges often punish defendants for “judge shopping”.

Matthew Walther on The Mueller delusion

We don't know why Flynn lied, but we also have no idea why the FBI was asking him gotcha questions in the first place. It wasn't authorized by James Comey, the FBI director at the time. There are really only two possible reasons. One is that sentient adults considered indicting Flynn under the terms of the Logan Act, which is the prosecutorial equivalent of announcing a snipe hunt. Another is that Andrew McCabe, then the deputy director at the bureau, went rogue, the way law enforcement officers at every level do every day. I'll let readers decide which is more likely.

But Mueller is not yet through with charging people with perjury: Mueller seeks Roger Stone’s testimony to House intelligence panel, suggesting special counsel is near end of probe of Trump adviser

It is the first time Mueller has formally asked the committee to turn over material the panel has gathered in its investigation of Russian interference of the 2016 campaign, according to the people.

Securing an official transcript from the committee would be a necessary step before pursuing an indictment that Stone allegedly lied to lawmakers, legal experts said.

The special counsel could use the threat of a false-statement charge to seek cooperation from Stone, as Mueller has done with other Trump advisers, such as former national security adviser Michael Flynn and longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.

It is unclear what aspect of Stone’s testimony Mueller is scrutinizing. But Stone has given conflicting accounts about what prompted him to accurately predict during the 2016 race that WikiLeaks was going to unleash material that would hurt Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
. . .
“I don’t think any reasonable attorney who looks at it would conclude that I committed perjury, which requires intent and materiality,” Stone said.

I'm not really seeing conflicts in his testimony so much as confusion. I'm still waiting for Mueller to bring charges against Brennan, Clapper and Comey for lying to Congress.

Another tongue bath for Mueller from WaPo: I talked to Mueller after Trump’s election. Here’s what was on his mind. But it's pretty clear he was ready to join a conspiracy to take out Trump. The "Mystery company" that Mueller subpoenaed is apparently one of the Russian ones. Mystery foreign company possibly tied to Mueller investigation subpoenaed. Good luck with enforcing that.

And speaking of Comey, via the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 12.19.18, Powerline's John Hinderacker analyzes his Congressional testimony in James Comey, Crooked Cop. WaEx: James Comey silent on whether FBI thought Trump and Russia worked together in 2016, because he can't find anything bad to say, and it really burns. Newsmax: House GOP Grilled Comey on Protocol in Questioning Flynn. Debra Heine PJ Media: Republicans Blast 'Corrupt Cop' James Comey After Second Closed-Door Interview. You assholes let your chance to do anything about it slip away. Da Caller: Comey Continues To Falsely Claim That Republicans Started Steele Dossier. Twitchy: ‘I didn’t make this up’: Rep. John Ratcliffe shares transcript of UNREAL exchange with James Comey. CNS News:
Comey: ‘Who Cares?’ Who Funded Steele Dossier Used to Get FISA Warrants to Surveil Trump Team.  Comey has very tenuous relationship with truth but he is a clever weasel.

Steele Dossier continues to confound. Da Caller confirms John McCain Associate Gave Dossier To BuzzFeed, and more on Buzzfeed as Buzzfeed Faces Major Setback in Defamation Defense, as Court Rules The Russian Businessman The Dossier They Printed Accused Is Not a "Public Figure" (Ace) but BuzzFeed Beats Defamation Lawsuit Over Trump Dossier Story. Apparently you don't have to check too hard for the truth before publishing.  At American Thinker, Steele-ing an Election by W.H. Lippincott.

Victor Davis Hanson: We Are Witnessing a Soft Coup of the Trump Administration (Video)



Front Page: Senate Report Reveals Russians Targeted Blacks and Latinos More Than Conservatives.

Oxford University’s Computational Propaganda Project report is the adult in the room, occasionally conceding the more nuanced reality of the Russian campaign by noting that peak Russian propaganda volume actually occurred long after the election during the Syria missile strike: a key national interest area for Russia. It also confirms what Facebook has already told us, that Russian activity actually increased after the election.

That suggests an influence operation rather than election interference.

It also reveals that the Russians bought over 1,000 ads targeting African-Americans and less than 300 targeting conservatives. There were 81 social justice ads and only 24 patriotism ads, 66 pro-gun ads and 70 LGBT ads, 43 veteran ads and 57 Muslim ads, not to mention 143 Latin American culture ads.

The African-American ads also produced over 1.5 million clicks while the conservative ads produced well below 500,000. The former ads also racked up over 15 million impressions while the conservative ads scored below 6 million. Not only did the Russians seem to spend less time and achieve fewer result by targeting conservatives, but they produced more clicks, 548,139, by targeting Latinos.

So the actual story of Russia’s Facebook operations is that they targeted African-Americans and even Latinos more than conservatives. That would be entirely in line with Russia’s past propaganda, and its influence operations in the United States, but it doesn’t fit the Clinton conspiracy theory.

While Nate Silver puts it into perspective: It's far more likely that the Russians were just throwing a bunch of shit at the wall and seeing what stuck and that basing it on Cambridge Analytica data wouldn't have been meaningfully more effective than doing it at random.

For instance, this story makes a big deal about a (post-election) Russian social media disinformation campaign on Bob Mueller based on... 5,000 tweets? That's **nothing**. Platform-wide, there are something like 500,000,000 tweets posted each day. https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/business/technology/russian-disinformation-teams-targeted-robert-s-mueller-iii-says-report-prepared-for-senate/2018/12/17/0e0047f6-0230-11e9-8186-4ec26a485713_story.html?utm_term=.c8c3515a6838&__twitter_impression=true …

Never-Trumper David French at NR hopes Yes, Donald Trump Is in Real Legal Jeopardy for Campaign-Finance Violations. and WSJ: Trump Testimony From Decades Ago Indicates Knowledge of Campaign-Finance Laws "Legal experts say that could be critical if investigators pursue a case over hush-money payments to women in the 2016 campaign". Friendly legal experts no doubt.

Can't get Trump? Indict his children. A great alternative! So says a former Watergate prosecutor, Carter administration official, and executive director of American Bar Association. https://t.co/yVWJMxbp09

— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 20, 2018

Then, Chelsea should be fair game as well in the Clinton Foundation scam.

Doing Well By Doing Good

Something from Ace's I've been sitting on: As Joe Biden and John Kerry Pushed a Softer Line on China, Their Sons Made Business Deals with the Chinese Government, and Even Invested in a Chinese Nuclear Company Under FBI Investigation

They made great deals, for themselves.

In 2013 and 2014, China embarked on an aggressive air and island campaign to dominate the South China Sea, much to the dismay of Japan and other countries in the region. When Vice President Joe Biden visited the country in 2013, he emphasized trade between the U.S. and China and did not focus on the South China Sea. Secretary of State John Kerry did the same in 2014.
Meanwhile, Biden's son Hunter and Kerry's stepson Chris Heinz carried out massive business deals with Chinese officials and the state-owned Bank of China. Worse, Hunter Biden and Chris Heinz even invested in a Chinese nuclear company under FBI investigation.
"During a critical eighteen-month period of diplomatic negotiations between Washington and Beijing, the Biden and Kerry families and friends pocketed major cash from companies connected to the Chinese government," Peter Schweizer writes in his new book "Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends."

Much more at the link.

Chelsea Clinton laughs at their pathetic attempts at self-aggrandizement.

Reason #5625 That Trump Was Elected

Chelsea Clinton, the epitome of ‘white privilege’, lectures white parents about racism

If Webster decides to use images to define words someday, Chelsea Clinton’s face will be right next to the words ‘white’ and ‘privilege’. Seriously, if there is such a thing as white privilege, Hillary’s daughter has lots and lots and lots of it.

Painful & powerful. Thank you Crystal for sharing. White parents need to talk about racism & hate with our children throughout their lives. https://t.co/INyy9UeX4H

— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) July 28, 2017

☝🏻☝🏻 When Life Proves ☝🏾☝🏾
Chelsea & Her Mom Are Racists
Who Judge By The Color Of Skin
& Not By The Content Of Character #SundayMorning pic.twitter.com/VUv1VD0vjs

— AIiceInTwitt€rLand (@American1765) July 30, 2017

We were tired of being accused of racism by racists.

Reason #5540 That Trump Was Elected

Via Wombat-socho's "In The Mailbox: 05.17.17", Traitor, Spy Manning Freed

Three days before before leaving office, Preznit Obama pardon Bradley Chelsea Manning. According to CNN:

Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst behind one of the largest leaks of classified information in history, was freed Wednesday morning and is looking forward to living openly as a woman for the first time in her life without government restrictions, her attorney says.

Manning came out as a transgender woman in prison.

As a prisoner at the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, she had to conform to male grooming standards before her 3 a.m. ET release.

"She has experienced trauma over the past seven years of her confinement and the trauma from those experiences won't just evaporate the day she walks out of prison," said American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Chase Strangio, who represented Manning.

The poor dear. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison on 20 counts, including violations of the Espionage Act.

Why do democrats pardon traitors? And why do traitors rename themselves after the the daughters of democrat potential presidents? Many of us notice, and vote accordingly.

Running Out of Steam at Clinton.com

It's getting a long way down the road, near the end, and I'm running out of steam, but let's get going anyway: Comey’s not the problem, the media is the problem. As Instapundit says (over and over) just think of them as democrats operatives with bylines, and it all makes perfect sense.

A powerful public official errs on the side of transparency and disclosure and how does the media react?

Outraged. Indignant. Defensive.

These are our supposed public watchdogs. The ones whose job is to expose what taxpayer-funded officials and politicians don’t want you to know.

 No, Bret Baier’s multi-part scoop on the FBI’s Clinton probes hasn’t been “debunked”. A combination of wishful thinking and propaganda by Democrats.

Just girl talk: Hillary Clinton sent Chelsea info now deemed classified  And Then Tried To Cover Her Tracks, anyway, the subject is so important we're not allowed to see it now. Can security clearances be passed on the X chromosome? Related Wikileak: John Podesta says Calling Chelsea ‘Not Smart’ Is An ‘Understatement’.

Speaking of not smart, Wikileaks Tweet: Hillary Campaign Manager Jon Podesta Invited To, And Apparently Interested In, Ritual Dinner Featuring "Spirit Cooking," Allegedly Derived from Alesteir Croweley's Satanic Rituals. Podesta has a long running interest in the weird, including a belief in UFOs. Maybe he can become Secretary of the Paranormal. And David Brock? Just Bat S**t Crazy.

Wikileaks also reveals how the Clinton camp dealt with Women's Pay Equity issue and how it relates to the Clinton campaign. Turns out they talked the talk, but didn't walk the walk. Also revealed, FactCheck.org was working with the Clinton campaign. Brooks, tell me it ain't so!

I fear John Crudel at the NY Post is too optimistic: Hillary won’t survive another WikiLeaks dump:

And, I said, Clinton was being set up for an ambush by someone connected with the Russians who had hacked her personal emails. (Her password was stolen, my sources tell me, when she was traveling to Russia as secretary of state.)

Many of you may think that Comey’s decision to reopen the email investigation was the ambush I was predicting.

No, the ambush I am expecting has to do with the release of Clinton’s own emails in Phase 3 of the leaks.

If I had to guess, the newest releases will contain Hillary Clinton’s personal stuff. Unless WikiLeaks is lying, Phase 3 should come before the weekend. Only then will Clinton be unelectable.

So far, that final prediction is not materializing. However, his guess regarding Clinton's password seems on point. She has been notoriously sloppy. Almost as if she didn't care who saw what as long as it wasn't the American public.   Majority of voters think Clinton acted illegally, new poll finds. Unfortunately, many of them are democrats, and they just don't care. From ‘reset’ to ‘pause’: The real story behind Hillary Clinton’s feud with Vladimir Putin. She understands him, because she would like to be him, for all of us.

Kimberly Strassel has a long article on Clinton's mole at the Just Us Department, Assistant Attorney General Peter Kadzik: The Clinton Campaign at Obama Justice. You do know how to defeat the paywall don't you? Hmmm or is that Whoa! IRS reviewing the Clinton Foundation? Too little too late. The time to do that is before she gets to appoint your bosses. Misdirection: What did Giuliani know, and when did he know it?. What, you mean Trump might have moles too?


Trump's latest ad:




That stings. So does this: Clinton's charity confirms Qatar's $1 million gift while she was at State Dept "without informing the State Department, even though she had promised to let the agency review new or significantly increased support from foreign governments."

A double from Victor Davis Hanson: Epic greed, power, and pride: Where’s the bottom? With Bill and Hillary, there’s no telling and No reason to assume Hillary’s troubles are behind her. Hillary Clinton’s Downfall And Ruling Class Collapse:

What we know so far:

Hillary’s downfall began in earnest with Huma Abedin’s estranged husband Anthony Weiner’s indiscriminate dickposting. In the course of investigating Weiner for allegedly sexting a minor, the NYPD (or the NY office of the FBI) either stumbled upon evidence of Clinton’s deleted emails on Weiner’s faptop, or Wiener sang like a bird in a bid to plea bargain himself out of prison time, and turned his computer over to the FBI with the promise of a much bigger fishwife to fry. The latest news is that Weiner may have copied and saved all of Hilluma’s emails in case of an emergency when he might need it as a bargaining tool.

In other words, Anthony Weiner may go down in history as the perv who unintentionally saved Western Civilization.

Soft core porn starlet Susan Sarandon (NSFW): 'DNC is completely corrupt’ When you're right, you're right. She's voting for The Vandal. "Big Names Campaigning for Hillary Clinton Underscore Donald Trump’s Isolation.": A NYT headline that could so easily be rewritten pro-Trump.  About that possible tie in the electoral college? Jay Z repeatedly drops n-word, f-bomb during concert for Hillary Clinton. But Donald Trump said "pussy!"

Electoral College Voter Says He Will Not Vote For Hillary Clinton Even If She Wins His State, "While that is technically Satiacum’s prerogative, as an elected member of the Electoral College, he will face a $1,000 fine from Washington for not voting for the winner of that state." Pennsylvania State Police Stage Voter Fraud Sting You have to dig hard and do a little googling to see that it's a Democratic front group involved. And speaking of people with the power to sway the election: Presidential Pollsters’ Political Contributions: Heavily For Hillary Clinton. Do you want to be on the "right side of history" or just be right? As Stacy McCain says "If Hillary Loses Ohio … finish that statement any way you want."

Be sure to check out the links at Wombat-socho's "In The Mailbox: 11.04.16", Maggie's Farm's "Thursday morning links" and "Friday morning links", and Larwyn's Linx: These are the times for which the Constitution was written; FBI Taking Action To Take Down Top DOJ Officials.

Wombat-socho has both "Rule 5 Monday: Happy Fun Victory Week" and "FMJRA 2.0: Happy Fun Victory Week" up and running at The Other McCain.

The Foreign Influence at Clinton.com

Project Veritas has a new video showing how the Clinton campaign illegally takes in foreign donations. Project Veritas, part four: How to inject foreign money into an election, starring Bob Creamer. Ace:  Let Us Show You How Easy It Is to Get Democrat Front Groups to Accept Tainted Foreign Donations. Just follow the money.

State Dept. months late on explaining Clinton aide's missing emails, Stop us if you’ve heard this before: State can’t find e-mails from key Hillary email scandal figure

NARA told State in July to produce Pagliano’s complete e-mail records within 30 days, or to explain what happened to them. So far, State hasn’t responded to this demand, now more than 90 days old. State told ABC News that it’s been spending that time looking for Pagliano’s .pst file from that period of time (May 2009 to February 2013), but … they just can’t seem to find it:

Hillary Clinton email saga continues as 33,000 erased emails may not be ‘missing’ after all They're always in the last place you look, but in this case I think that's by design. HillaryClinton’s E-Mail Server Company Got Almost $1 Million In Gov’t Loans After Wiping E-Mails. Payoff? No wonder Pence hammers FBI investigation: ‘Doesn’t pass the smell test’. It doesn't even pass the laugh test. Richard Nixon could only wish he got Hillary’s FBI treatment.

The Washington Post has a big article today on a 30 pg email release by Wikileaks, in which Doug Band outlines the financial snake pit by which money flow from Clinton Foundation donors to the Clinton family, and their retinue. Inside ‘Bill Clinton Inc.’: Hacked memo reveals intersection of charity and personal income. Wall Street Journal: Clinton Foundation’s Fundraisers Pressed Donors to Steer Business to Former President. The Free Beacon has  Clinton Aide’s Memo Details Ties Between Consulting Firm and Clinton Foundation while Powerline has Clinton Corruption, Two Articles. Hot Air: Brutal new Clinton emails about Teneo remind us of Huma Abedin circa 2010. All of which might explain this WaPo piece: House Republicans are already preparing for ‘years’ of investigations of Clinton, as well they should. Top Democrat Strategist Warned Podesta: Hillary ‘Seems Indifferent’ to ‘Systemic Corruption’ Indifferent, my ass. She was strongly pro systematic corruption, as the chief beneficiary. Clinton ‘May Be Immune To Pay To Play’ says pollster. Huma Abedin Granted Access To Hillary Based On Clinton Global Initiative Donor Status

Other slightly more amusing Wikileaks, Hillary Clinton Needed Someone to ‘Sober Her Up’ at 4:30 in the Afternoon. Well it was 5 PM somewhere. John Podesta invokes the Sweet Meteor of Death, and the fact that the Clinton Team Leaked Creepshot of Bernie Sanders in His Swimming Suit. I'm sure that cost Bernie the nomination. The other dirty tricks had nothing to do with it. Speaking of her public and private faces: Clinton Took More Conciliatory Tone With Health Care Industry in Paid Speeches. Bring out the minstrels! Hacked email: Deploy the 'brown and women pundits'. Advice to Clinton: Cultivate ‘brown and women pundits’ to shame NY Times over tough coverage. Tough coverage from the Times? Did they accidentally tell the truth or something? CNN Host Stuns Media, Says Clinton’s Team Thinks “She’s Nuts!” Slightly lifts thumb on scale.

Leaked Emails Show Clinton Staffers Struggling To Handle Bill’s Women ‘Issues’ pairs well with Clinton Fixer Reveals Sick Smear Hillary Ordered Against Monica don't you think? YouTube backs off ban of 'Clinton's black son'

In an act of intense projection Chelsea Clinton, speaking in Madison to an audience of "a few hundred," said children are getting bullied in school because of the "Trump effect."

And as far as that "almost daily diet of hate speech" Chelsea spoke of — where does it come from? Does it come from Trump or does it come from Trump's opponents who are paraphrasing him? I think most of the noise comes from the paraphrasers, and the question is whether they are: 1. Interpreting Trump accurately and getting us to see dog-whistling for what it really is, or 2. Distorting what Trump says into something it's not that they want you to think it is.

Michelle Malkin discusses Hillary’s climate of hate, and Scott Adams on The Bully Party,

I’ve been trying to figure out what common trait binds Clinton supporters together. As far as I can tell, the most unifying characteristic is a willingness to bully in all its forms.

If you have a Trump sign in your lawn, they will steal it.

If you have a Trump bumper sticker, they will deface your car.

if you speak of Trump at work you could get fired.

On social media, almost every message I get from a Clinton supporter is a bullying type of message. They insult. They try to shame. They label. And obviously they threaten my livelihood.

We know from Project Veritas that Clinton supporters tried to incite violence at Trump rallies. The media downplays it.

We also know Clinton’s side hired paid trolls to bully online. You don’t hear much about that.

Obamacare is sick so Hillary Clinton Hints at a Health Care Takeover to Keep Obamacare Alive. It was always about putting more power in their hands and more money in their pocketses.

Spike In Immigrants Illegally Crossing Into US Ahead Of Election. Hillary is the carrot and Donald is the stick:

“The smugglers are telling them if Hillary [Clinton] gets elected, that there’ll be some sort of amnesty, that they need to get here by a certain date,” Cabrera said. “They’re also being told that if [Donald] Trump gets elected, there’s going to be some magical wall that pops up overnight and once that wall gets up, nobody will ever get in again.”

Hot Air reports that The surrender on immigration has already begun

Donald Trump says Hillary Clinton's Syria plan would start World War Three: Wednesday morning US election briefing. We're already in World War III; we just haven't admitted it to ourselves yet.

Ex-Secret Service officer behind Clinton tell-all planning defamation suit Oh goody!

A lawyer for Gary Byrne, whose book “Crisis of Character: A White House Secret Service Officer Discloses His Firsthand Experience with Hillary, Bill, and How They Operate,” has sent notices to Media Matters for America and David Brock informing them that he intends to file suit.

“Officer Byrne will bring legal action against you, in your personal capacity, and against Media Matters,” a lawyer for the former Secret Service officer wrote to Brock, a loyal Clinton ally and the founder of the liberal advocacy group Media Matters.

The letter requests Brock and Media Matters to “hold” all records and communications associated with their communications regarding Byrne — including “Any communication(s) between David Brock and The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton” regarding the former Secret Service officer, suggesting there might be collusion between the campaign and her defenders.

It also demands Brock “immediately and publicly retract any statement or inference by yourself and/or Media Matters to the effect that Officer Byrne was not fully truthful in recounting within ‘Crisis of Character’ details from any previous testimony.”

 And via Wombat-socho's "In The Mailbox: 10.26.16", Megyn Kelly Is Only Selectively Interested In Sex, Hillary’s Climate Of Hate, Why Are Celebs Remaining Silent About Politics? Esquire Editor Answers Own Question By Naming & Shaming, Project Veritas Video Shows Clinton Allies Accepting Huge Foreign Donation, Yes, There Is A Coup Underway In America, Two Frightening Post-election Questions if Hillary Wins, ABC – Clinton’s Lead Drops By Four In A Single Day, Porn Star Suddenly Claims Trump Offered Her $10K For Sex Ten Years Ago, Haitians Tell Hillary “Give Us Back The Billions You Stole”. Trump Gains Lead Over Clinton In Florida, Prep For Pointing And Laughing – Some Pre-Election Polling, Tom Perez Jokes About Murdered Girl At Clinton Event, Race Hustler Deray McKesson Endorses Hillary

Resuming Clinton.com Coverage

I'm having trouble getting back into the swing of hating Hillary after a week off. After all, it's not like A Hillary Clinton Presidency Would Be An American Tragedy. Oh that's right, it would. Hillary's running mate, former VA governor Tim Kaine gets the impossible task of explaining Clinton’s email lies. Faceplants

What’s amusing to watch (in an admittedly mean spirited way) is the look on Kaine’s face as Chuck Todd makes his way through the lengthy set-up to the question. He knows the question is coming. He’s been briefed on what to say. But you can also tell that he’s unhappy with the only answer he’s been given and he looks like he just swallowed a dead toad while he’s waiting.

Ann Althouse catches Hillary trying to shade the truth: It's not "I may have short-circuited." It's "I may have short-circuited it." But what difference does it make? I think what Hillary said, she said for the express purpose of distracting from the essential fact that she has consistently lied to the public about her emails. William Saffire in the NYT: Blizzard of Lies and that was from 1996. She's gotten more brazen as she's gotten away with more and more. However, For some on the left, Hillary has never told a lie about her email. It's more that they just don't care; it's only national security, after all, not welfare. It turns out that an Iranian scientist who was working as a spy for the US, and who was discussed by name in Hillary's emails was caught and executed. Was it, as some are willing to claim, a direct result of Hillary's emails? Who knows? Putin maybe. If Putin got the info, would inform Iran? Probably, it's no skin off his nose and he might get something of value from the Iranians.

Hillary found a former Deputy Director of the CIA, Michael Morell, to endorse her. Of course, he also served under her husband, and helped to cover up her Benghazi lies. She is also getting the full throated endorsement of the Communist Party USA. Like calls to like. But she probably won't be getting much help from the police unions after Hillary told the police union to Get Lost. She made a cold-blooded calculation that there are more black lives matter votes than police votes.

Today Drudge is featuring a number of incidents of Hillary being unable to navigate stairs, falling down, etc:

2016: HILLARY CONQUERS THE STAIRS...
2012: FALLS AT HOME, BLOOD CLOT...
2011: FALLS BOARDING PLANE...
2009: FALLS GOING TO WHITE HOUSE, BROKEN ELBOW...

CNN: NO HILLARY HEALTH DRAMA...
WASH POST: NOTHING TO SEE THERE...

Drunk? Old? Concussion symptoms? Epilepsy Will she make it a whole term? DrJohn at Flopping Aces is not alone in questioning her health and  sanity: Signs that Hillary Clinton is mentally ill and Expert Analysis of Hillary Clinton’s Physical and Mental Breakdown. Found at "Larwyn's Linx" from Aug. 7. Plenty more links there, as well as in the Aug. 8 post. 

Hillary likes to cite her previous experience, but at the Washington Post! As senator, Clinton promised 200,000 jobs in Upstate New York. Her efforts fell flat.  

Chelsea Clinton’s next gig… First Lady? To be fair, Bill will be pretty busy with the Lolita Express, and she looks better in a dress.

NBC caught editing segment about Bill Clinton rape accuser But shockingly, they were caught editing out the untrue disclaimer "discredited and long-denied." I'm sure that they added it as part of a spinal reflex to protect the Clintons.

BRUTAL: This James Woods photo-slam of Hillary Clinton, Dem voters is drub-tastic!

Dead people and illegals... pic.twitter.com/2W72MKoadb

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) August 7, 2016

Clinton.com on Brexit Day

It appear that the Brits have voted decisively to give the finger to the wankers in Brussels, and told them all to sod off. Hillary, who was firmly in the Bremain camp, apparently blamed Donald Trump for the disappoint to her base, the Wall Street bankers and hedge fund managers:

Declaring the aftermath of Brexit a "time of uncertainty," Hillary Clinton on Friday said the United Kingdom's decision to exit the European Union raises the stakes for the November election against Donald Trump, as her campaign's top advisers laced into the Republican as unfit to handle the weight of the moment.

"This time of uncertainty only underscores the need for calm, steady, experienced leadership in the White House to protect Americans' pocketbooks and livelihoods, to support our friends and allies, to stand up to our adversaries, and to defend our interests," the presumptive Democratic nominee said in a statement. "It also underscores the need for us to pull together to solve our challenges as a country, not tear each other down."
Story Continued Below

Clinton foreign policy adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters in a conference call that the presumptive Republican nominee "proves again and again that he is temperamentally unfit for the job," on the same day Trump devoted a significant portion of a news conference in Scotland to discussing his renovated Turnberry golf course."The American people need a steady hand at times of uncertainty, not a wreckless egomaniac," Sullivan said.

Said the spokesman for the woman who threw a lamp at her husband and a bible at a Secret Service agent.

Paranoid Hillary drove demoralized Secret Service to drink, drugs and hookers, says officer who protected 'Bridezilla' Clinton in the White House and Secret Service Tell-All: Clintons Believed They Had Magic Pot of Royal Money to Pay For Their Every Whim. There's your steady hand.

Hillary Clinton struck another blow for transparency when she failed to hand over a key email to the State Department, you know, the one explaining why she didn't want to use a State Dept. email account:

Former Secretary Hillary Clinton failed to turn over a copy of a key message involving problems caused by her use of a private homebrew email server, the State Department confirmed Thursday. The disclosure makes it unclear what other work-related emails may have been deleted by the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

The email was included within messages exchanged Nov. 13, 2010, between Clinton and one of her closest aides, Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin. At the time, emails sent from Clinton's BlackBerry device and routed through her private clintonemail.com server in the basement of her New York home were being blocked by the State Department's spam filter. A suggested remedy was for Clinton to obtain a state.gov email account.

"Let's get separate address or device but I don't want any risk of the personal being accessible," Clinton responded to Abedin.

This, apparently, was one of the 30,000 or so "personal" emails that Hillary had deleted off the server before the FBI confiscated it, emails that she referred to as yoga routines and Chelsea's wedding plans. It sort of leads you to wonder what she meant by "personal."

Before turning over her emails to the department for review and potential public release, Clinton and her lawyers withheld thousands of additional emails she said were clearly personal, such as those involving what she described as "planning Chelsea's wedding or my mother's funeral arrangements, condolence notes to friends as well as yoga routines, family vacations."

Clinton has never outlined in detail what criteria she and her lawyers used to determine which emails to release and which to delete, but her 2010 email with Abedin appears clearly work-related under the State Department's own criteria for agency records under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

Speaking of Chelsea: Watchdog Accuses State Department of Slow-Rolling Release of Chelsea Clinton Emails

Citizens United has been suing the State Department to turn over correspondence between department officials and Chelsea Clinton, who used the pseudonym “Diane Reynolds” in many of her emails. It is also asking for emails between State Department officials and the Clinton family’s long-time aides Amitabh Desai, Justin Cooper, and Oscar Flores.

The D.C. district court ordered the State Department to release portions of the records to Citizens United on a rolling basis every four weeks, but did not specify an end date to complete the production.

On June 1, the State Department said it had found nearly 4,000 documents responsive to the Citizens United request, but over the past two months it has released just 17 of them.

Without doing the math, it would appear that the State Dept.  has no intention of finishing by the end of her first term. Chelsea is a fully grown, made woman in the Clinton Mafia, so her correspondence is of great importance.

Clinton's State Dept. Calendar Missing Scores of Entries:  You want the truth? You can't handle the truth.

An Associated Press review of the official calendar Hillary Clinton kept as secretary of state identified at least 75 meetings with longtime political donors, Clinton Foundation contributors and corporate and other outside interests that were not recorded or omitted the names of those she met. The fuller details of those meetings were included in files the State Department turned over to AP after it sued the government in federal court.

Hillary aide mocked appointment of donor to International Security Advisory Board. It's good to have a sense of humor:

Newly released emails show one of Hillary Clinton’s top aides mocked the appointment of a Clinton campaign bundler to the International Security Advisory Board. McClatchy reports:

. . . “Couldn’t he have landed a spot on the President’s Physical Fitness Council?” Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Philippe Reines wrote in a State Department email in 2012 to two other Clinton aides.

He paid way too much for post that trivial.

538 thinks that The Clinton Campaign Seems To Think Pennsylvania Is In The Bag but says she shouldn't count on it. Liberal Michelle Goldberg fears Trump’s Speech About Hillary Was Terrifyingly Effective. The truth often is.

By way of Wombat-socho's "In the Mailbox, 06.23.16",  “Clinton Seems To Fancy Herself The Cher Of Politics”, Obama Administration To Release Hillary E-Mails…In 75 Years, and from Larwyn's Linx, Brexit: Britain votes with Trump, against Hillary, Obama, Ex-Secret Service: Clintons Thought They Had ‘Magic Royal Pot Of Money’, Hillary IT Guy Pleads The 5th 125 TIMES In 90 Minutes – What Is He Hiding?, and Is Facebook targeting Kathleen Willey?,

Playing Catch Up at Clinton.com

We just got back, and stuff packed away, and it's time to deal with three days of accumulate material:

Judge Napolitano says FBI has “overwhelming” evidence to indict and convict Clinton - Sure, and it's also true the administration will run interference as long as possible; which may be forever.

According to Salon, Hillary’s primary success is a sham: Bernie Sanders will remain the true Democratic front-runner until the FBI finishes its Investigation - It's not over until the FBI clears Hillary Clinton— which it absolutely shouldn't. But see above.

Chelsea opened a can of worms with a Kinsleyan Gaffe by admitting that "Now that Scalia’s Gone We Can Enact Gun Control." In an attempt to save her vote in Pennsylvania, Hillary tweeted "I know how important gun ownership & particularly hunting is here in Northeastern Pennsylvania." To which the Instapundit quipped "I know which Clinton I believe".  The less experienced liar? Powerline was blunter. "Hillary Wants Your Guns." Yes, she does, while she stands behind a wall of well armed private security and Secret Service Agents.

McAuliffe restores voting rights for 206K ex-felons; GOP calls it move to boost Clinton. I believe that the rights of felons should be restored, but after a slightly more selective process than a blanket amnesty, given the high rate of recidivism. However, Hillary tweeted "Proud of my friend @GovernorVA for continuing to break down barriers to voting." She could be one soon enough.

Judicial Watch was rejected for consideration of a Pulitzer for it's reporting on Hillary Clinton's Benghazi woes and email scandals on the ground that It ‘Does Not Qualify As A News Site’, despite the fact that similar activist organizations on the left are routinely awarded Pulitzers. Go figure.

Hillary Clinton Has No Regrets About Libya Breaking news, she also has no sense of shame.

Women continue to give Hillary the cold shoulder: Gallup: No interest in Clinton even among Democratic women.

Women have never paid as much attention to the current race as men, but Gallup found that the attention gap has expanded in recent months.

Once just two points apart, in February, the gap is now 13 points and is seen in both Democratic and Republican ranks as men continue to be engaged in the election dominated by news coverage of Republican Donald Trump.

What if they held an election and the women didn't show up to vote? Well, That blows Hillary's Whole Campaign Rationale: Jodie Foster tired of ‘the woman thing’: There’s no ‘big plot to keep women down.’

Get Off My Lawn! Bubba does it again, blaming kids for the nation's economic woes. Sometimes I think he doesn't want her to win.

Hillary has ‘described a vision’ of a running mate With unicorns in short supply, she has indicated:

Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, former governors from the key state of Virginia; Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who represents both a more liberal wing of the party and a swing state; former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, a prominent African-American Democrat; and Thomas E. Perez, President Obama’s labor secretary and a Hispanic civil rights lawyer.

Or even more fantastical, Liz "Fauxcahontas" Warren.

Does he know something about the FBI investigation that we don't? Biden hits back at Clinton's criticism of Sanders

Confused Hillary Clinton Rejects Charles Koch 'Endorsement' But I'm pretty sure she'd take money from Satan.

Humpday at Clinton.com

A big pile of steaming. . .

FBI Director Comey says he's more interested in doing the investigation of the Clinton email scandal right than doing it fast.

Comey declined to comment on the FBI's ongoing investigation into former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's private email server. Though he admitted he is staying "close to this one to make sure we have the resources to do it competently."

He said there was no pressure to wrap-up the probe before the political conventions this summer.

"The urgency is to do it well and promptly," Comey said. "And 'well' comes first."

So your ready to indict the chosen representative of the Democratic Party? The Bookworm doubts that Hillary will ever be indicted:

. . . This episode from my past makes me doubt very strongly that Hillary Clinton will be indicted. I know that the rumor mill keeps saying that FBI agents, from Comey on down, will quit if Loretta Lynch lets Hillary walk. Some of the FBI agents whispering this to friendly reporters may even believe that they’ll quit.

Mostly, though, this is a bluff.  Why?  Because the people talking about quitting are middle-class people with mortgages, and school fees, and insurance, and all the other expenses that keep us in the middle-class living up to our own expectations. If Hillary really does walk, 99% of those “I’ll quit if she’s not indicted” agents will manage, very quickly and easily, to convince themselves to stay in their jobs, and get their salaries and pensions.

New information suggests that the Clinton.com super secure basement server was hacked: Clinton server may have been breached in 2009

"There now seems to be a very real probability that Hillary Clinton rushed to install an encryption certificate in March 2009 because the U.S. intelligence community caught another country reading Clinton's unencrypted messages during her February 16-21, 2009, trip to China, Indonesia, Japan, and S. Korea," wrote Stewart Baker, a former assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security, in a column for the Washington Post.

Via Ace:

Based on timing -- that this memo indicated "vulnerability" and then she rushed some new security into her system to make it slightly less unsecure -- Baker believes she knew she'd been hacked, and was taking some much-too-late mitigation efforts.

BS on the "Too Expensive" Claim? Commenters are debating whether or not a $5000 phone is really a deal-breaker in our gold-plated government. CSMBigBird says:

Ace, I was a Siprnet Admin, and a COMSEC custodian before retiring. A cabinet Sec could order a 50 grand phone and no one, absolutely no one would blink.

Well then I guess there's a different reason. Like: "We know how the security works on the phone we routinely give out, because we've got hundreds of them, and we have no idea really how your phone would work, so why don't you just stop being a Mean Old Lady Who Doesn't Like New Things and use the damn phone we're giving you?"

A reminder from Hot Air: The media ignores the actual laws which apply to Clinton’s email server. Another reminder. The San Bernardino terrorists had tougher security than Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.

Reminder: Hillary Is Awful On Trade, Too - There’s really not a whole lot of difference between 'economic patriotism' and 'economic nationalism.' The convergence of Clinton and Trump. Bernie just accused Hillary of being insufficiently enthusiastic about the minimum wage hikes, so I expect her to come out for a $25 minimum soon. After all, if 15 is good, 25 is better, right? If Bernie doesn't win, he'd better look out, the Clintons don't take lack of support lying down. A crusading attorney general aims to hurt ExxonMobil after it stopped funneling money to the Clintons. Well, it could be a coincidence. While very few Americans seem tied to the grand new banking scandal from Panama, one them might be John Podesta, long time Clintonian, and currently head of her campaign.

A billionaire and a Russia-controlled bank named in the Panama Papers have links to Hillary Clinton through two separate lobbying efforts — one through a Clinton-connected lobbying firm and another through Sidney Blumenthal.

Clinton is linked to Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, through Podesta Group, a lobbying firm co-founded by Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta and his brother, Tony Podesta, a major Clinton bundler.

You have to do something with all the corporate cash going into the Clinton.com. Why not stash some offshore, just in case? Someone remind her the next time she comes out for "gun control" Clinton Foundation Donors Got Weapons Deals From Hillary Clinton's State Department.

Media relations? ‘No, No, No.’ CNN Host Cuts Off Interview After Guest Mentions Hillary’s Defense Of Child Rapist. It's against the "Hillary for Women" agenda. However, Hillary does show some love for Megyn Kelly, Donald Trump's bête noire: Hillary Clinton goes to bat for Megyn Kelly against Trump calling her a 'superb journalist'. Will Megyn stay at Fox long enough to be on the other side, against Clinton? That will change her tune. But even Mika expressed disbelief that former Clinton aide and donor George Stephanopoulos would serve as a debate "moderator" for Hillary. Why not, it's not like everyone except millennials knows he's totally in love with her. Do Reporters Know They’re Giving Money to Sanders and Clinton? The Communications Workers union is supporting both Democrats—and endorsing Bernie—but news organizations don’t want to talk about it.

Speaking of unearned positions, Chelsea Hints at Running for City Council in New York City. Well, they elected De Blasio, and now the place is starting to fall apart again. Might as well go all the way.

The one debate we'll never see: BROADDRICK SPEAKS: I’d ‘love’ to have one-on-one encounter with Hillary