Russiagate: Weissman Turns on Mueller

John Sexton at Hot Air, One Of Mueller’s Top Deputies Turns On Him, Says He Let The American People Down

One of Robert Mueller’s top deputies is about to publish a book about the inner workings of the special counsel investigation. In a piece about the book, Andrew Weissman told the Atlantic that he was “frustrated” he Mueller report hadn’t gone harder after the president:

Weissmann offers a damning indictment of a “lawless” president and his knowing accomplices—Attorney General William Barr (portrayed as a cynical liar), congressional Republicans, criminal flunkies, Fox News. Donald Trump, he writes, is “like an animal, clawing at the world with no concept of right and wrong.” But in telling the story of the investigation and its fallout, Weissmann reserves his most painful words for the Special Counsel’s Office itself. Where Law Ends portrays a group of talented, dedicated professionals beset with internal divisions and led by a man whose code of integrity allowed their target to defy them and escape accountability.

“There’s no question I was frustrated at the time,” Weissmann told me in a recent interview. “There was more that could be done that we didn’t do.” . . .

It’s incredible that Democrats are still whining about Barr’s summary of the report so long after the report itself has been released. It couldn’t be any clearer that what mattered most to them wasn’t the report but the Democratic PR effort surrounding it which never recovered.

The Houston Chronicle cites WaPoo as it whines Mueller 'could have done more' to hold Trump accountable, member of special counsel says 

He lays particular blame on Mueller's top deputy, Aaron Zebley, for stopping investigators from taking a broad look at Trump's finances, and writes that he now wonders whether investigators had "given it our all," knowing they left many important questions unanswered.

"As proud as I am of the work our team did - the unprecedented number of people we indicted and convicted and in record speed for any similar investigation - I know the hard answer to that simple question: We could have done more," Weissmann writes.

But not a single mention of the fact that Weissmann "accidentally" deleted the content of his cellphone twice, before giving it to IG Horowitz. Breitbart, Mueller’s Top Prosecutor Andrew Weissman Laments: ‘We Could Have Done More’. But you get the point. Weissman thought he was entitled to unlimited ability to investigate the president to attempt to find a crime, not investigate a crime that they believed had occurred, and to create some along the way via process if necessary. That's not the way justice is supposed to work. But then, it was never about justice, was it?

At Da Caller, Chuck Ross points out that Time Is Running Out For Revelations About Trump-Russia Probe, and anyway, all the oxygen will be sucked up by the Supreme Court confirmation fight, unless McConnell simply cuts the Gordian Knot and shortcuts the hearing process. Also contains a pretty good review of the twists and turn of "Spygate."

Sundance at CTH looks at how Clinton Emails and FBI Activity Back in News as NY FBI Agent Talks – Fills-in CTH Background Research…

According to the September 28, 2016, messages from FBI Agent Peter Strzok it was the SDNY in New York telling Andrew McCabe in DC about the issue. Pay close attention to the convo:
(pdf source for all messages here)

Notice: “hundreds of thousands of emails turned over by Weiner’s attorney to SDNY”.

Pay super close attention. This is not an outcome of a New York Police Dept. raid on Anthony Weiner. This is Weiner’s attorney going to the U.S. attorney and voluntarily turning over emails. The emails were not turned over to the FBI in New York, the actual emails were turned over to the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District.

Key point here: Weiner’s attorneys turned over “emails”.

♦If the U.S. Attorney in New York has the emails on September 28th, 2016, why would they need a search warrant on October 21st, 2016? (Comey’s call explanation)

♦Why would Weiner’s attorney be handing over evidence?

Think about this carefully. I’ll get back to the importance of it later; but what I suspect is that Weiner had material that was his “insurance policy” against anything done to him by Hillary Clinton. Facing a criminal prosecution Weiner’s lawyer went to the U.S. Attorney and attempted to exploit/leverage the content therein on his client’s behalf.

Fast forward three weeks, and we go back to FBI in DC.
. . .
Important to note here, that at no time is there any conversation -or hint of a conversation- that anyone is reviewing the content of the emails. The discussions don’t mention a single word about content… every scintilla of conversation is about how to handle the issues of the emails themselves. Actually, there’s not a single person mentioned in thousands of text messages that applies to an actual person who is looking at any content.

Russiagate Lives!

There's just a couple stories, but a fair number of links.

Whoda thunk, the FBI cheats and doesn't do its best work when no one is bothering to check? Wave the national security flag, and the judges just give you permission to spy on anybody. Well, AG Horowitz checked. WaPoo, Problems with FBI surveillance extended far beyond probe of Trump campaign, Justice Dept. inspector general says

The Justice Department inspector general revealed Tuesday that his investigators found errors in every FBI application to a secret surveillance court examined as part of an ongoing review — suggesting that problems exposed in the bureau’s probe of President Trump’s 2016 campaign extend far beyond that case alone.

The memorandum issued by Inspector General Michael Horowitz stems from an audit launched last year after his office found 17 serious problems with the FBI’s surveillance applications targeting former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. These interim results seem to indicate that other sensitive counterintelligence and counterterrorism cases have been similarly plagued by mistakes.

Trump has long decried the FBI investigation of him and his campaign’s contacts with Russians as a politically motivated “witch hunt” aimed at wrecking his candidacy and his presidency, and he and his supporters are likely to embrace the new revelations as further evidence of wrongdoing among former FBI leaders.

Tuesday’s findings suggest, however, that the bureau may be suffering instead from broad, institutional weaknesses more than political bias, as problems were found in an array of cases managed by FBI field offices around the country.

Trump highlighted various inspector general reports about the FBI at his coronavirus briefing Tuesday and remarked, “You know what, I don’t think this country’s gonna take it, to tell the truth.”

Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said the inspector general’s audit shows that “the entire process is prone to abuse” — a function of inadequate accountability and oversight.

“The irony here is that, in one sense, the memorandum suggests that the Carter Page episode was not a partisan political scandal,” Vladeck said. “The irony is it suggests it was part of a far bigger and more problematic pattern — a nonpartisan, systemic problem.”

It can be both. Embrace the healing power of "and." The Post is claiming vindication that the FBI fucks them all up, and not just the Trump investigations because it might mean it's not political.

More analysis at CTH from sundance, Rank and Vile – DOJ Inspector General Identifies 93 Percent Non-Compliance Within FISA Review – Issues So Bad IG Presents Interim Report Before Reviewing Details…

The results were so bad the IG produced an interim memorandum to the DOJ and FBI [pdf link here]. Within the 17-page-memo the IG notifies Attorney General Bill Barr and FBI Director Chris Wray that all of the claimed FISA processes, in every field office, are grossly deficient, and in most cases there is zero compliance with FISA standards. The IG memorandum is presented before the IG even looks at the specifics of the non-compliance.
Below is the report/memorandum. Additionally I am summarizing the stunning top-lines identified by the IG memo:

• The IG reviewed 29 FISA applications, surveillance warrants, used against U.S. persons.
• The 29 FISA applications were from eight different field offices.
• The FISA applications were from Oct/2014 through Sept/2019.
• All of the FISA applications reviewed were approved by the FISA court.

The ‘Woods File’ is the mandatory FBI evidence file that contains the documentary proof to verify all statements against U.S. persons that are contained in the FISA application. Remember, this is a secret court, the FISA applications result in secret surveillance and wiretaps against U.S. persons outside the fourth amendment.

♦ Within the 29 FISA applications reviewed, four were completely missing the Woods File. Meaning there was zero supportive evidence for any of the FBI claims against U.S. persons underpinning the FISA application. [ie. The FBI just made stuff up]
♦ Of the remaining 25 FISA applications, 100% of them, all of them, were materially deficient on the woods file requirement; and the average number of deficiencies per file was 20. Meaning an average of twenty direct statements against the target, supporting the purpose of the FISA application, sworn by the FBI affiant, were unsubstantiated. [The low was 5, the high was 63, the average per file was 20]
♦ Half of the FISA applications reviewed used Confidential Human Sources (CHS’s). The memo outlines that “many” of applications containing CHS claims had no supportive documentation attesting to the dependability of the CHS.
♦ Two of the 25 FISA applications reviewed had renewals; meaning the FISA applications were renewed to extended surveillance, wiretaps, etc. beyond the initial 90-days. None of the renewals had any re-verification. Both FISAs that used renewals were not compliant.

But wait… it gets worse. . . .

More newsy articles, Tobias Hoonhout at NR, IG Horowitz Found ‘Apparent Errors or Inadequately Supported Facts’ in Every Single FBI FISA Application He Reviewed, News Thud, Bill Barr Finds Errors In Every FISA Application Audited By IG Horowitz In Probe, Goes Public, Chuck Ross at Da Caller, DOJ IG Checked 29 More FBI Spy Warrants, And Found Problems With All Of Them and Capt. Ed at Hot Air, DoJ IG: FBI Problems On FISA Warrants “Far Beyond” Crossfire Hurricane — And FBI Leadership Was Well Aware Of It

Scott Johnson at Power Line, Horowitz Audits FBI snarks:

I’m sure this will all come as a great shock to James Comey. We await an effusion of his deep thoughts on Twitter.

More snark from Insty, I’D CALL IT A CLOWN SHOW EXCEPT THAT IT’S NOT FUNNY: IG Horowitz Found ‘Apparent Errors or Inadequately Supported Facts’ in Every Single FBI FISA Application He Reviewed and Sarah Hoyt LOOK AT HOW SHOCKED MY FACE IS! DOJ IG Report: “We do not have confidence that the FBI” acted “in compliance with FBI policy” on FISA applications.

The other issue is Weiner's laptop. Stu Cvrk at Red State, About That Anthony Weiner Laptop…

Will we ever know what was on Anthony Weiner’s laptop? Apparently not, if we are to rely on the FBI to provide us the whole truth. I mean, who among us can believe ANYTHING coming from the FBI these days – even in the Age of Trump? Director Christopher Wray appears to be more concerned about protecting the outward appearance of his agency than disclosing any Obama-era criminal conduct. And we know there is plenty of that just from the public record!

Like, for instance, that fabled Weiner laptop. To refresh your memory from what I consider to be the best authoritative account:

FBI investigators in New York were analyzing a Dell laptop, shared by Abedin and Weiner, as part of a separate sex-crimes investigation involving Weiner’s contact with an underage girl. A former Democratic congressman from New York, Weiner is serving a 21-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to sending obscene material to a 15-year-old.
On Sept. 26, 2016, the lead New York agent assigned to the case found a large volume of emails – “over 300,000” – on the laptop related to Abedin and Clinton, including a large volume of messages from Clinton’s old BlackBerry account.
The headers indicated that the emails on the laptop included ones sent and/or received by Abedin at her clintonemail.com account, her personal Yahoo! email account as well as a host of Clinton-associated domains including state.gov, clintonfoundation.org, presidentclinton.com and hillaryclinton.com.
The agents had reason to believe that classified information resided on the laptop, since investigators had already established that emails containing classified information were transmitted through multiple email accounts used by Abedin, including her clintonemail.com and Yahoo! accounts. Moreover, the preliminary count of Clinton-related emails found on the laptop in late September 2016 — three months after Comey closed his case — dwarfed the total of some 60,000 originally reported by Clinton.
FBI officials in New York assumed that the bureau’s brass would jump on the discovery, particularly since it included the missing emails from the start of Clinton’s time at State. In fact, the emails dated from the beginning of 2007 and covered the entire period of Clinton’s tenure as secretary and thereafter. The team leading the Clinton investigation, codenamed “Midyear Exam,” had never been able to find Clinton’s emails from her first two months as secretary.
By Oct. 4, the Weiner case agent had finished processing the laptop, and reported that he found at least 675,000 emails potentially relevant to the Midyear case (in fact, the final count was 694,000). “Based on the number of emails, we could have every email that Huma and Hillary ever sent each other,” the agent remarked to colleagues. It appeared this was the mother lode of missing Clinton emails.

Except that the laptop was deep-sixed, for all practical purposes, as corrupt FBI Director James Comey swept the entire Hillary Clinton email investigation under the rug when he exceeded his authority by “exonerating” her just a few days before the 2016 election.

Sidney Powell exposing the Weiner laptop contents(HRC/HUMA VID?) that made NYPD officers throw up after seeing pic.twitter.com/7JyVzM7HDJ

— JustInformed Talk (@JustInformU) March 15, 2020

Tyler O'Neil at PJ Media, Newly-Released Hillary Clinton Emails Show Classified Information, Redacted Obama Talking Points. Of course.

Late Breaking Russiagate

I was afraid that none would break the WuFly barrier, but from one of my more reliable sources, just a bit. Just the News  reports that New Clinton scandal memos confirm FBI stalled a month to search Weiner's laptop

The FBI waited a month between the time it discovered Hillary Clinton emails on disgraced ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner’s laptop and obtaining a search warrant – as Clinton and Donald Trump were entering the closing weeks of their tight 2016 White House race, according to newly obtained records by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch.

The documents are communications between former FBI official Peter Strzok and former FBI attorney Lisa Page, who exchanged emails during the 2016 race that suggested they did not support Trump becoming president.

Weiner, at the time the emails were discovered, was married to top Clinton aide Huma Abedin. The emails were purportedly from when Clinton was Secretary of State. The Justice Department was already investigating Clinton using a private server to send official State Department information.

"These new records show how Hillary Clinton was protected from investigation over the Weiner laptop by the FBI for a full month during the presidential campaign ... No wonder the FBI is slow rolling the release of these documents," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

Judicial Watch obtained the records through a January 2018 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.

Hopeless Russiagate

No Hope Hicks. . . But, from Daniel Chaitin at WaEx, Nunes threatens ninth criminal referral, says Trump-Russia conspiracy peddlers are 'possessed' Not possessed. Just evil.

Rep. Devin Nunes threatened to send a ninth criminal referral regarding the Trump-Russia investigation to the Justice Department if he does not receive information he requested about British ex-spy Christopher Steele, and accused those who still push the Russian collusion conspiracy of being "possessed."

The California Republican sent letters Friday to FBI Director Christopher Wray and U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is conducting a review of the origins of the Russia inquiry. He asked about records the Bureau received in October 2016 that show a top official at the State Department undermining Steele's credibility. Steele authored a dossier, filled with salacious and unverified claims about President Trump's ties to Russia, that was used by the FBI to obtain Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or FISA warrants to wiretap onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

In a Fox News interview on Sunday, Nunes said someone at the FBI appears to have been "determined to hide" then-Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec's notes from both the FISA court and Congress. In the last session, when Nunes was chairman, the House Intelligence Committee conducted its own investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

"So they have until Friday to get it to us, and if they don't, we will make our ninth criminal referral," Nunes told host Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures." "Basically, we won't know exactly who at the FBI obstructed justice, but — Durham or the Department of Justice should be able to figure it out because there's e-mails that went around, and somebody decided not to give it to the Congress."

Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin

and from Mark Tapscott at the Epoch Times, Newly Released Emails Show ‘Ethical Mess’ Among Top Echelon FBI Officials, Group Says

Former FBI Director James Comey was fired in May 2017 just a few hours after the bureau’s top leadership drafted a letter to Congress that “muddled” his congressional testimony the week before.

That testimony concerned Huma Abedin’s use of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s unsecured private email system, according to the nonprofit government watchdog Judicial Watch.

Comey was terminated by President Donald Trump on May 9, 2017, the same day the Senate Judiciary Committee received the letter concerning Comey’s May 3, 2017, testimony claiming that Abedin made a “regular practice” of forwarding “hundreds and thousands” of emails from the Clinton system to her husband’s laptop computer.

Abedin’s husband is former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), who the same month in 2017 pleaded guilty to sending obscene photos to a minor. He was released from prison earlier this year.

“Director Comey spoke of hundreds and thousands of emails being forwarded from Ms. Abedin to Mr. Weiner’s laptop computer,” FBI Assistant Director Gregory Brower wrote in the letter to the committee.

Brower said 49,000 emails were forwarded, but only “a small number were a result of manual forwarding” to Weiner by Abedin. A dozen of the emails contained classified government information, he said.

Comey wasn't much of a "facts" guy.

The Mueller Report liberals were really waiting for, Top Mueller prosecutor Andrew Weissmann lands book deal. I'm sure he'll be scrupulously fair./sarc

Also from Dan Chaitin, Ex-top CIA official perturbed by John Durham's review of intelligence analysts. CIA upset at thought they might be spied on.

"I see no problem with a DOJ review of whether the CIA and other intelligence community agencies lived up to their legal and regulatory responsibilities related to how they handled any information related to U.S. persons — U.S. citizens and U.S. nationals," Morell told CBS News, where he is now a senior national security contributor.

"Having said that, I see a DOJ review of whether or not the intelligence analysts made the right call as wholly inappropriate. I cannot ever remember a DOJ review of analysis," Morrell added.

"[Durham] and his team have no experience with, or knowledge of, the process of intelligence analysis," Morell said. "He and his team could well impose a law enforcement standard in coming to a conclusion — a much higher bar than exists in the intelligence community for analytic judgments."

You mean, kind of like Weissman inventing all kinds of obscure reasons why Trump committed obstruction of justice while providing all the information he asked for?

Refurbishing Russiagate

The headliners from Drudge:

Longtime Trump Org CFO granted immunity...
'Narrow in scope'...
Manhattan D.A. Eyes Criminal Charges...
Prosecutors inch closer to Trump...
Loyalty Tested as Closest Confidants Become Witnesses...
'We don't know quarter of what's in pocket of Mueller'...
RUDY TAKES SHOT AT PRESIDENT FOR 'FLIPPING' COMMENTS...
DRAMA: George Conway tweets again...
BUCHANAN: We are headed for hellish year...
DAN RATHER: STAY TUNED...
Kavanaugh argued the president can be impeached for lies, cover-ups and refusing to testify...
Dems' midterm strategy: Stop talking about Trump...

Can we stop pretending this ever had anything to do with Russia yet? Hoo Boy: Top Trump Org Finance Exec, Allen Weisselberg, Granted Immunity By Feds In Cohen Probe

Ken White at WaPo: Witnesses ‘flipping’ does corrupt justice. But not because they’re ‘rats.’

America’s criminal justice system routinely coerces defendants to cooperate and incentivizes them to lie to please prosecutors. But most victims aren’t presidential confidants accused of bank fraud. The vast majority of people who confront the choice between cooperation and a longer sentence are poor and uneducated. When it comes to jailing our fellow Americans, we have champagne tastes, but when it comes to defending them, a store-brand-soda budget. Public defenders and other indigent defense attorneys are notoriously, consistently and outrageously underfunded . Pleading guilty and implicating a co-defendant can be the only practical choice when your lawyer lacks the time and resources to mount an effective defense. In fact, flipping on your cohorts can be the only way to avoid the de facto punishment of pretrial detention: In many jurisdictions, defendants plead guilty and cooperate because they cannot afford bail , and they would otherwise languish in jail awaiting trial for many months or even years, whether or not they have a defense.
. . .
The criminal justice system, from petty drug cases to sophisticated grand jury investigations by specially appointed former FBI directors, runs on flipping defendants. If we want fairness for both the cooperating defendants and the people they implicate — if we want faith in the results — we need serious reform. That means thinking about how poverty drives cooperation and digging into our pockets to fund the defense of people we want to jail. But it also means asking tough questions about how the system fails to police itself. There are no reliable methods in place to track repeat cooperators or to ensure that evidence undermining their credibility is turned over to the defense, and very few prosecutors face consequences for withholding information that impeaches their witnesses. A system that cared about reliable cooperator testimony would ensure both.

Fairness also demands that we examine the vast power we’ve given prosecutors, who through unreviewable and usually opaque charging decisions can have even more authority than judges over a defendant’s sentence. Federal prosecutors could flip Cohen because they had broad discretion to charge him with dozens of crimes or none; they alone decided how sweet a deal to offer and how ugly the alternative was. The federal sentencing guidelines contribute to that phenomenon and to prosecutorial power. Few Americans realize that it made little difference that Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was convicted on only eight of the 18 counts against him: Under the strange alchemy of sentencing guidelines, his recommended sentence may not be significantly lower than it would have been if he were found guilty on all 18. And by deciding what information to provide to the court and the probation office that drafts the pre-sentence report, prosecutors can further guide the sentencing outcome, further increasing their power to coerce pleas and cooperation.

Neo Neo remembers the Stevens prosecution: On the Cohen plea

What I’ve never seen is this sort of general technique used by partisans of one party to get the president of the United States, although I’ve seen something like it on a lower level; Ted Stevens comes to mind. In Stevens’ case, the name of the Michael Cohen figure was Bill Allen, who (unlike Cohen) at least was not Stevens’ lawyer. A little tiny memory refresher here [emphasis mine]:

On July 29, 2008, Stevens was indicted by a federal grand jury on seven counts of failing to properly report gifts, a felony, and found guilty at trial three months later (October 27, 2008). The charges relate to renovations to his home and alleged gifts from VECO Corporation, claimed to be worth more than $250,000. The indictment followed a lengthy investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for possible corruption by Alaskan politicians and was based in part on Stevens’s extensive relationship with Bill Allen. Allen owned racehorses, including a partnership in the stud horse So Long Birdie, which included Stevens and eight others, and which was managed by Bob Persons. The FBI not only had calls between Allen and Stevens, made after Allen became a cooperating witness, but they had thousands of wiretapped conversations involving the phones of both Allen and VECO Vice President Rick Smith. They had also videotaped meetings between Allen and state legislators at VECO’s hotel suite in Juneau, the state capitol. Allen had testified in court that he bribed Ted’s son Ben, the former Alaska Senate president. A former VECO employee said he did campaign fundraising work for Stevens while on VECO’s payroll, a violation of federal law. Allen , then an oil service company executive, had earlier pleaded guilty—with sentencing suspended pending his cooperation in gathering evidence and giving testimony in other trials—to bribing several Alaskan state legislators. Stevens declared, “I’m innocent,” and pleaded not guilty to the charges in a federal district court on July 31, 2008. Stevens asserted his right to a speedy trial so that he could have the opportunity to clear his name promptly and requested that the trial be held before the 2008 election.

Stevens was found guilty, and just about everyone in both parties pressured him to resign from the Senate. That was the true goal of the prosecution, I believe—not to necessarily put him in prison, but to create a climate that would ruin him politically. But he lost his election instead.

What happened next was the discovery (initially through a whistleblower) of an enormous degree of prosecutorial misconduct, including the following:

the discovery of a previously undocumented interview with Bill Allen, the prosecution’s star witness, that raised the possibility prosecutors had knowingly allowed Allen to perjure himself on the stand. Allen stated that the fair market value of the repairs to Stevens’s house was around $80,000—far less than the $250,000 he said it cost at trial. More seriously, Allen said in the interview that he didn’t recall talking to Bob Persons, a friend of Stevens, regarding the repair bill for Stevens’s house. This directly contradicted Allen’s testimony at trial, in which he claimed Stevens asked him to give Persons a note Stevens sent him asking for a bill on the repair work. At trial, Allen said Persons had told him the note shouldn’t be taken seriously because “Ted’s just covering his ass.” Even without the notes, Stevens’s attorneys claimed that they thought Allen was lying about the conversation…
Stevens’s attorney, Brendan Sullivan, said that Holder’s decision was forced by “extraordinary evidence of government corruption.” He also claimed that prosecutors not only withheld evidence but “created false testimony that they gave us and actually presented false testimony in the courtroom”—two incidents that would have made it very likely that the convictions would have been overturned on appeal.
On April 7, 2009, federal judge Sullivan formally accepted Holder’s motion to set aside the verdict and throw out the indictment, declaring “There was never a judgment of conviction in this case. The jury’s verdict is being set aside and has no legal effect,” and calling it the worst case of prosecutorial misconduct he’d ever seen.
Disgusting. But these revelations came too late for Stevens, who had been narrowly defeated in his re-election bid. So the forces desirous of bringing Stevens down were fully successful, even though their duplicity was later discovered. The full report didn’t come out till 2012, two years after Stevens’ death in an airplane accident. But at least he lived to see some vindication.

I’ve gone into so much detail about the Stevens case because although it’s not a perfect analogy, it’s relevant, and it should anger every single person who reads about it, no matter what political side that person might be on. The goal with Stevens was to force him to lose his election, resign, or face expulsion from the Senate. The goal with Trump is to get him impeached and even convicted, if possible. I happen to think the first option is very possible if the Democrats win the House, but I doubt conviction would occur in the Senate unless a great many GOP moderates went along, and I don’t quite see that happening.

And just for reference, one of Mueller's current team of prosecutors, Andrew Weissman was one of the prosecutors on the Steven's prosecution that was censured. And it's not his only time. Manafort Prosecutor Has a History of Bullying, Withholding Information, Critics Say

“He is very good at stretching the law to encompass conduct that is not criminal,” said Sidney Powell, an attorney who represented former Merrill Lynch executive James Brown.

Mueller Is Already Taking Measures to Muzzle Manafort, Matt Naham, Law and Crime:

Special counsel Robert Mueller is taking measures to prevent convicted felon Paul Manafort from claiming he is being “selectively prosecuted” in his upcoming Washington, D.C. trial.

NPR’s Carrie Johnson reports that Mueller has petitioned the D.C. judge Amy Berman Jackson to prevent Manafort from making this argument, claiming that Manafort’s defense team “repeatedly” ignored Judge T.S. Ellis III’s order during the Virginia trial.

Crime and Punishment, by Roger Kimball, American Greatness

The crime at the center of this deep-state initiative is the election of Donald Trump. The tort? He was elected without the permission of the ruling class, its jesters and its scribes and moralists. Pete Wehner does not approve of Donald Trump. Bill Kristol thinks he is infra-dig. Psychiatrists are still trying to figure out what Mad Max Boot and Jabbering John Brennan think.

But this, Ladies and Gentlemen (and unlike the MTA and the London Tube, we still use the phrase “Ladies and Gentlemen” here), this is the crime: Donald Trump was elected. That’s it. That’s the crime. It’s not in the statute books, but a little thing like that never stopped a diligent bureaucrat, especially one armed with a phalanx of partisan prosecutors and an unlimited budget.

A nonpartisan friend (he did not vote for Trump or Hillary) wrote me with another bit of practical advice for the president. Reflecting on the vindictive, death-by-a-thousand-cuts procedure of Robert Mueller, he noted that the president could “avoid this form of slow water torture by simply pardoning Manafort and anyone else who has gotten in Mueller’s sights. I can,” he said, “right now write the presidential statement”:

I am now pardoning Paul Manafort and everyone else who has come within the gun sights of the special counsel. These individuals have fallen into jeopardy entirely because of their association with me, my campaign, my business, my family, and so forth. None of them would be in such trouble but for the fact that they are seen by Mr. Mueller as stepping stones in his quest to get me.
Rather than wait until the end of the process, I have decided to pardon everyone now, because the enormous distraction caused by the Mueller investigations threatens to distract the nation from attending to crucial business in a very dangerous world. This is a fight between Mr. Mueller and me, not between Mr. Manafort, nor anyone else, and Mr. Mueller. I signed the pardon papers this morning.
Having now pardoned all of Mr. Mueller’s targets, I invite him to file a report with the House of Representatives, recommending my impeachment. The House, and, if articles of impeachment are voted by the House, then the Senate sitting as my jury, are the proper arena for this battle.
This is a political, not a legal battle. I am prepared to wage that political battle within the House and the Senate in an impeachment context, and before the American people in the next presidential election, in which, I hereby announce, I intend to run for a second term. Let the American people have their say.

Neither Don Lemon nor Rachel Maddow nor their many confrères in the media would like this. Indeed, it would drive them, if possible, to further frenzies. But, hey, in for a penny, in for a pound. If, as I say, Donald Trump’s crime was simply being elected, such a forthright expedient might be just the ticket.

Unbiased Chuck Todd: A "Functional Washington" Would Be Looking For Ways To Draw Up Articles of Impeachment Papers On Trump and unbiased Conrad Black: Trump Has Already Won on Impeachment

Andrew Ferguson, Weekly Standard: We Can’t Wait for Michael Cohen’s Inevitable Memoir. I beg to differ. From Reality TV to Reality Politics: What Cohen, Omarosa, and Avenatti know that Democrats don't. That there's no such thing as bad publicity? Omarosa: I’m ready to testify at Trump impeachment trial. Anything to stretch her 15 minutes.

But seriously: Cohen Guilty Plea Shows Campaign Finance Law Issues

It should be simple: people, businesses, organizations, and unions can donate to whatever candidate they want. No donation limits. Candidates can spend said money however they want but an itemized list needs to be provided to the FEC and made public.
. . .
Former FEC Commissioner Bradley A. Smith suggested at Reason.com the confuzzling system really caught Cohen and Trump in a Catch-22.

In the Cohen case, the prosecutors hung their hat on FECA’s definition of “contributions” and “expenditures” as anything spent or contributed “for the purpose of influencing any election.” That’s a pretty broad definition, and certainly it may have been thought that paying hush money to Trump’s old memories would “influence an election.” Thus, they argue, payment of the hush money was subject to limits on the size of contributions used to pay, could not include corporate funds, and had to be reported to the FEC.
But there is another provision in the statute that prohibits a candidate from diverting campaign funds to “personal use.” “Personal use,” in turn, is defined as any expenditure “used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense of a person that would exist irrespective of the candidate’s election campaign.” These may not be paid with campaign funds, even if they are intended to influence the election…
The upshot is that TV ads, polling, hiring a campaign accountant to comply with federal laws, and renting office space are all examples of expenses that exist only because the person is running for office—they are campaign expenses. But if Trump or some other candidate were to tell his personal lawyers, “I want all the lawsuits against me settled. I think they’re a bunch of B.S., but they’re hurting my candidacy,” the settlements would not be “campaign expenses,” even though the payments were made to “influence an election.”

Smith thinks Cohen would have been nabbed by investigators either way because of the way the system is set up. He’s not defending the hush money payments – just pointing out how easy it is for regulators to find violations.

Anything a candidate does he (or she) intends to influence an election. Say for example, putting her email server in her bathroom, and using it to illegally transfer classified material. Victory Girls:  James Comey Lied: Majority Of Hillary Clinton Emails On Weiner Laptop Were Never Examined:

Lie Number One: Comey claimed in his book as well as during interviews that he never heard about the emails until early October. He also claimed at the same time that he never realized that Huma was a close personal confidante of Hillary Clinton’s.

Meanwhile was action taken regarding these emails given the issues and the Hillary Clinton email investigation titled “Mid-Year Exam?” Nope. In fact Strzok sat on them for another 26 days.

It took several FBI agents blowing the whistle on the inaction to get the investigation going. However, there were still others who insisted anything in the emails was all a giant nothing burger.

Lie Number Two: Comey actually stated that new technology allowed them to comb through all the new emails and text messages to accurately compare the new trove with all other emails that Hillary so ‘helpfully’ provided in earlier days of the investigation. In fact, the system used had a major technical glitch that didn’t allow them to compare the two. Of the 694,000 emails uncovered; only 3,077 were reviewed. Yes folks, you read those numbers correctly.

Lie Number Three: Comey testified that no new sensitive information had been found. Except for the fact that out of the emails reviewed, MORE classified info was found that included emails about extremely sensitive material concerning Israel and the terrorist group Hamas. Hillary Clinton was NEVER asked about the new information uncovered. NEVER.

Not only that, but the new information was never analyzed for damage to national security. NOR was it referred to the other U.S. intelligence agencies to determine what if any aspects of our national security had been compromised. Which is something that they should’ve done because it is a FEDERAL MANDATE to do so. In fact it’s an actual policy that must be adhered to.

Lie Number Four and Five: Material recovered was NOT duplicate material but brand new information, that was classified. A call sheet regarding a discussion with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ran four pages. A classified ‘readout’ of a call with a UAE prime minister ultimately ended up housed on Weiner’s laptop under the subheading titled “Anthony Campaign.” Contrary to Comey’s testimony on May 2017, these emails had not been seen before.

Lie Number Six: Comey has maintained that the FBI left no stone unturned. And perhaps for the agents in the field that is true. As for Peter Strzok and James Comey, they left a significant number of stones untouched in their investigation. Why? Hillary Clinton.

Exit Question per the Real Clear Investigations report: Where is the Weiner laptop and what did the FBI do with the data from it?

Hard Time for Weiner

Anthony Weiner gets hard time

It’s hard time for Anthony Weiner.

The disgraced ex-congressman broke down crying as he was sentenced to 21 months in prison Monday for convincing a high school student to undress and touch herself via Skype in 2016.

“This was a serious crime. It’s a serious crime that deserves serious punishment,” Manhattan federal Judge Denise Cote said as the convicted sext fiend dropped his head into his hand and wept.

After the courtroom cleared, Weiner sat crying in his chair with his lawyers patting him on the back. His mom also sat crying on the bench behind him, sitting next to Weiner’s brother Jason and Weiner’s dad.

The serial sexter’s soon-to-be ex-wife, Huma Abedin, was nowhere to be seen.

In addition to his prison stint, Weiner was sentenced to pay a $10,000 fine for his crime, participate in sex offender outpatient treatment and spend three years on supervised release once his sentence is up.

He will have to surrender to his designated facility by Nov. 6 — his lawyer put in a request for Schuylkill Federal Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania, or another low-security prison near New York.
. . .
The feds said the latest and most insidious chapter of Weiner’s sexting problem began on the evening of Jan. 23, 2016, when a high school student messaged him on Twitter, prompting a flurry of “provocative” responses from the former public servant, who knew the teen was in high school, court papers show.

“As January turned to February, their intermittent exchanges grew more lascivious,” Manhattan federal prosecutors told the judge in court filings.

By the end of February, Weiner — who by this time knew the girl was only 15 — was video-chatting with her via Skype and using “graphics and obscene language” to ask her to “display her naked body and touch herself,” the feds said.

It's amazing how the article manages to recite the fact that he was a former Congressman without mentioning his party affiliation until the 13th paragraph. We know that would have been prominent in the first paragraph had he been Republican. They also skirt right around how his sexting led to the FBI investigation that found a shitload of Hillary Clinton's emails, including some classified ones, on the laptop he shared with Huma (Hillary's consigliere).

The man clearly has issues.

Sydney Leathers Boyfriend in Deep Doo Doo

Anthony Weiner Could Get 15 Years in Prison for Child Porn

Sydney Leathers

. . . You can read the whole thing, if you wish to remind yourself of what was made apparent by Weiner’s disgrace, both in terms of the degradation of culture, and the role of the liberal media and the Democrat Party in enabling that degradation. In retrospect, it should have been obvious that a middle-aged married politician seeking out a 22-year-old “sugar baby” for online sex chats, after he has already been caught once in such affairs, was in the throes of a helpless and perverse obsession. A man so reckless as to be willing to destroy not only his reputation, but also his political career and his marriage, for the sake of kinky conversations with Sydney Leathers, probably was too far gone to recover. When Weiner was caught yet a third time in August 2016, however, it became evident that he was also willing to risk serious legal consequences:

Disgraced pervert and former congressman Anthony Weiner could soon face child-pornography charges as a result of a federal investigation into his electronic exchanges with a 15-year-old girl.
The FBI began investigating Weiner after the Daily Mail reported that the notorious “dick pic” enthusiast had exchanged in sexually explicit messaging with the underage girl. Writing under the pseudonym “T Dog,” Weiner reportedly asked the 15-year-old to dress up like a “school girl” and engage in “rape fantasies.” He allegedly told the girl he “would bust that tight p—y hard and so often that you would leak and limp for a week.”
It was federal investigators probing Weiner who uncovered emails potentially related to the Hillary Clinton investigation on several of Weiner’s electronic devices, prompting FBI director James Comey to inform members of Congress. Many Democrats have suggested Comey’s actions in response to the Weiner probe findings may have cost Hillary Clinton the election.
Weiner’s estranged wife, Huma Abedin, was a senior adviser to Clinton at the State Department, and maintained a prominent role in her presidential campaign.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Weiner’s attorneys have been in discussion with federal prosecutors in recent weeks, and have urged them not to bring serious charges in the case. The most serious charge Weiner could face is production of child pornography, because he allegedly solicited sexually explicit images from the underage girl. If convicted, Weiner could face a 15-year mandatory minimum jail sentence.
Lesser charges Weiner might face include receipt of child pornography or possession of child pornography. The former carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, while the latter charge has no mandatory minimum.

(Via Memeorandum.) Even if we could leave aside our moral judgment of Weiner’s behavior, we would still be left to contemplate the strictly pragmatic issues involved in his case. It can be fairly argued that Weiner caused Hillary Clinton’s defeat last November, not only because of Comey’s FBI investigation, but also because Weiner’s third sexting scandal called attention to his wife, Clinton’s personal aide Huma Abedin. This in turn reminded many people of the widely held opinion, dating back to the 1990s, that Bill and Hillary have an “arrangement” in their marriage. And, of course, this rekindled speculation about Hillary’s own sexual preferences. Were such opinions and speculation fair to the Clintons? Fairness doesn’t count for much in politics.

Smart phones are great, I guess (I don't have one) but this is crime that wasn't even conceivable 15 years ago.  

Wombat-socho has the grand "Rule 5 Sunday: The Humiliation Of Roger Goodell" and "FMJRA 2.0: Waiting For The Superb Owl" ready at The Other McCain.

Porn Star Apologizes for Helping Trump

Porn Star Sydney Leathers Opens Up: ‘I’m Sorry’ for Helping Elect Donald Trump: Alternative title, "Democratic Politicians Help Young Supporter Find Suitable Work" 

Sydney Leathers may be one of the more influential people in politics, and she’s not even a politician.

Four years ago, she was barely on the media’s radar—just a small town Indiana girl engaging in flirtatious online banter. Only the man on the other side of the conversation was a well-known, loudly outspoken, and publicly respected politician. Sexts exchanged between the two over several months were leaked to the press, and with a giant swelling of media hype, Weinergate penetrated the American public in 2013, deflating congressman Anthony Weiner’s political career and putting a damper on his mayoral bid for New York.

She's a little on the plump side, but then I remember "Rule 34"

But no one could have guessed that Sydney Leathers and Anthony Weiner would come back to haunt the 2016 presidential election. Leathers played a pivotal role in orchestrating the shocking Daily Mail story back in September revealing how Weiner had been sexting a 15-year-old girl—a development that put the ex-politician under federal investigation and reopened the FBI inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s emails.

 Not really much of a role model for a 15 year old.

Despite her history with Hillary’s “second daughter” Huma Abedin, the tortured ex-wife to Weiner, Leathers is a longtime Democrat and dedicated Hillary supporter. She had a visceral reaction when she realized her seismic impact on the election. “I had a panic attack when I first found out. I was shaking for a solid 30 minutes,” says Leathers. “I felt sick, and a little guilty initially, but I had no way of knowing this was going to happen. It wasn’t malicious. I wanted to help a 15-year-old girl; it was the right thing. I’m sorry for any damage it caused the Clinton campaign. That wasn’t my intent.”

This latest—and most damning—Weiner controversy began when his underage sexting partner reached out to Leathers for advice. “She reached out to me back in May. So this was something I had been dealing with behind the scenes for a long time. It was hard on me. I just felt a lot of pressure to do the right thing for her,” says Leathers. “I guess she wanted advice, or at the very least someone to listen who could relate.”

“Everyone assumes I’m an attention whore but in reality I’m naturally very introverted,” adds Leathers, who later pursued a degree in radio/TV production as well as a career in porn. “I like production because I like being behind the scenes. That’s my comfort zone.”

Earlier this year, the documentary Weiner was released—a fresh take on an old scandal offering a more intimate look at the players involved. The film was co-directed by former Weiner chief of staff Josh Kriegman, and while the politician was humanized in the documentary, Leathers was cast as the villain, and was not afforded any screen time to share her side of the story.

Some her more frightening photos 1, 2, and 3. Do not, if you have a weak stomach google "Sydney Leathers nude."

Disgusted by Trump and fearing the worst, Leathers is preparing to weather the new presidency with as much body autonomy as possible—by stocking up on birth control pills. “I’m also keeping some Plan B handy in case they make that harder to get. God only knows what could happen with [Mike] Pence as VP. As a woman living in the state he poorly governed, I’m all too familiar with his views on reproductive rights,” says Leathers. “Women are really in for a fight over the next four years.”

I thank you for you inadvertent assistance, however minor, in sinking the Clinton machine and luck in your chosen field of endeavor.

Wombat-socho has "Late Night With Rule 5 Sunday" ready at The Other McCain.

New FBI Email Investigation at Clinton.com!

Yesterday, James Comey, director of the FBI dropped a bombshell, perhaps nuclear into the last days of the 2016 Presidential campaign when he sent at letter to Congress that because of emails found in the course of an "unrelated" investigation, that he had found more emails pertinent to the investigation of Hillary's email, and that he was reopening the investigation. Federal officials told NBC News that the Emails Related to Clinton Case were Found in Anthony Weiner Investigation into charges of his having sexted with a 15 year old. Speculation is rampant, but the best guess is that Huma's lap top, unsearched in the original investigation (pardon me?) was found to have additional emails between Huma and Hillary, and some of them get to the motive behind the super secure Hillary Clinton basement/bathroom email system. Veteran journalist Carl Bernstein: Bernstein: FBI Would Not Reopen Case Unless New Evidence Was "A Real Bombshell"

Political impact? How to judge? Democrats, of course, are outraged, having thought to have put the matter, if not to in the grave, at least in a closet out of sight. Podesta Calls on FBI Director to 'Immediately Provide Full Details' of New Email Probe knowing full well, of course, that Comey can't do that for all kinds of really serious legal reasons. Initially silent while the news sunk in, later in the day, Hillary followed suit: Clinton calls on FBI to release 'full and complete facts' of email review although up until this moment she was all deny and delay. Paul Krugman goes full conspiracy theory on FBI Director Comey’s letter to congress tweeting, among other things:

Comey probably not trying to elect Trump. But is he trying to help R senators? If he just leaves this hanging, that will be best guess

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) October 28, 2016

As for Republicans? They were as happy as ants at a candy store explosion: ‘This Changes Everything’: Donald Trump Exults as Hillary Clinton’s Team Scrambles, Trump reinvigorated by FBI Clinton probe. In the Washington Post's big article this morning: Computer seized in Weiner probe prompts FBI to take new steps in Clinton email inquiry

“A total bombshell,” said Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), a member of the House Homeland Security Committee. King predicted that the FBI would not close its inquiry before the election and said he believed that Comey wanted the public to know of his move regardless of the outcome.

But a little more interesting than mere off the cuff responses by politicians and other idiots, Megyn Kelly and Curt Gowdy had a real discussion:



Markets Rattled By Fresh FBI Review of Clinton Email. I could go on and on and on with links about this topic alone; but for now, that's about all the real information we have. I wonder if any more will develop by the election.

Believe it or not, the Clintondotcom digital bin was full before this story broke, so I'm not done yet. In retrospect, this one seems quaint: Biden: Hillary didn’t understand the “gravity” of secret e-mail server She doesn't understand or accept any limits on her power and authority. But still, Hillary wants Biden for Secretary of State. Hillary allies on secret e-mail server: “Whole thing is f****** insane.”  The FBI-Clinton-McAuliffe nexus takes on a new layer of stink as Hillary Clinton Personally Headlined Fundraiser for PAC That Gave $500,000 to Wife of FBI Head Overseeing Her "Investigation":

It is crucially important that conservatives join the liberals in vouching for the integrity and good intentions of government, no matter how corrupt it appears to be.

Otherwise your're a deplorable radical who hates stability, corporate profits, and small children.

Gratuitous Angelina Jolie picture

Glenn Reynolds: Kissinger's lessons in FOIA evasion Two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead, and don't put anything in writing, or say it in front of a camera or recorder. From before the Comey announcement: A Retired FBI Agent Addresses James Comey on the Hillary Clinton Investigation. But are you happy now? FBI questions Jolie for 4 hours over child abuse charges against Brad, but only 3.5 hours with Hillary over a matter of grave national security. Wouldn't you rather sit down with Angelina?

Wikileaks continue to dribble in: Clinton Staffer Speechless on How to Address Bill's Sexual History. Hey, what can you say? Team Hillary Feared Clinton-Cosby Comparisons. Rightly so. Clinton Adviser Tanden Calls Israel Govt. “Ruthless Wingnuts” Not to worry, the Jewish vote is still locked up. Podesta tries for the lions share of the vote by attacking Walter Palmer, the man who killed "Cecil the Lion." WikiLeaks Dumps Mean Hillary’s Presidency Would Be Tainted from Day One No, the Presidency would be tainted because of Hillary's actions. Wikileaks is just some of the evidence. More evidence Hillary’s allies don’t think much of David Brock. Some slight evidence of character discernment on their part. Again, this was before the Comey bombshell which put the crosshairs of any purported Clinton hired assassins clearly on Anthony Weiner but Howie Carr suggests you Don't hang around Doug Band this weekend for his role in the Wikileaks on the Clinton Foundation Slush Fund. Erica Garner blasts Clinton campaign over discussions staffers had about her father’s death in WikiLeaks emails. It was pretty shameless. Democratic Party Operative Robert Creamer Used Terror to Wage War on Honesty "Team Clinton appears to approve of violence and 'bird dogging' in WikiLeaks hack of Podesta"emails". GIVE ‘EM A ‘TASTE OF BLOOD’: Federal Report Exposed Robert Creamer's Thuggery LONG BEFORE Obama Joined With Him in 1980s. If The Media Investigated Hillary Like They Did Watergate, We Wouldn’t Need WikiLeaks When Republicans are involved the subject of the leak is investigated, when Democrats are involved, the source of the leak is questioned. Example: The media is rigging the election by reporting WikiLeaks emails

But as soon as I write that You Need To Watch MSNBC Go After ‘Sleazy’ ‘Clinton, Inc.’ And Their Cronies



Tim Kaine claims Bill Clinton made his money the old-fashioned way, you know. I guess for Tim Kaine, selling government influence is the old-fashioned way. Andrew Klavan Democrat Corruption is Much Worse Than Trump with bonus "Simpsons" clip. Montel Williams: NYT reporter threatened to publish my address over Trump story. News flash Clinton supporter lives in Trump named (but not owned) building, finds good value, is threatened by press for not attacking Trump. Ace's take on Scott Adams of Dilbert: I'm Endorsing Donald Trump, Because My Only Care In Politics Now Is To Push Back Against the Relentless, Remorseless Social Bullying of the Liberal Media and Political Establishment

I agree with this wholeheartedly. My politics have basically changed to be about only this about two or three years ago.

I have noticed, with great chagrin, that many conservatives support the Social Bullying Model -- the Social Justice Warrior coordinated group pile-on mass-shaming -- when it's someone else's ox being gored.

I don't. Enough. Enough of it all.

Washington Post: Press Telling Trump Supporters ‘Your Candidate Is Virtually Certain to Lose’. Yes, I've noticed. But That Was Yesterday, and Yesterday's Gone: Apropos of the Clinton campaign:

I loved you all the summer through

I thought I'd found my dream in you

For me you were the one

But that was yesterday and yesterday's gone

We walked together hand in hand

'cross miles and miles of golden sand

But now it's over and done

'cause that was yesterday and yesterday's gone

We had such happiness together

I can't believe it's gone forever

Wait 'til summer comes again

I hope that you'll remember when

Our love had just begun

I loved you yesterday and yesterday's gone

Don't Look Now, But CNN Just Reduced Hillary's Electoral College Take Down to 272. That was B.C. (Before Comey) too. Hillary stumbles boarding campaign plane. Snockered in midday again? Tequila, dance parties and Adele: Hillary Clinton finally lets loose  But 12 Days from Election, Clinton World Still Has No Good Answers on Russian Uranium Deal. Ten, but who's counting?

Biden Blames “Lazy American Women” For The Economy: “They Sit Around Doing Nothing, Only Hillary Can Force Them To Work”. Dear Kurt: I Can’t Believe Someone With Such A Terrible Record On Women Is Running For President

Dear Kurt: I find it outrageous that someone with a record of treating females like garbage is running for President! It is terrible and unacceptable when a person trying to be elected leader of the Free World has such an ugly history of insensitivity toward the abuse of women. What should I do? Signed, 21st Century Girl.

Dear Miss Missing Chivalry: Wait, I’m confused. Which one are you talking about?

Homeless black woman attacked for defending Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood sidewalk. News from WaPo: Liberals are preparing blacklists of appointees they want Clinton to avoid

Via Wombat-socho's "In The Mailbox: 10.28.16", “Go Home, Newt, You’re Drunk!”, Hillary Clinton – A Drunk For President?, Trump Supporter Gets Revenge On Lawn Sign Vandal, also, #SCHLONGED!, Clinton E-Mail Investigation Reopened – Because Of Anthony Weiner?,  Dwarf And Tequila For Hillary’s Birthday, So Endorse Trump, Then, Top Clinton Aides Discuss How To Please The Boss – “Make Soros Happy”, Hillary Caught Red-Handed Fixing A Foreign Election?, Say What? FBI With New Leads On Clinton’s E-Mail?, Beyond The Margin Of Lawyer

Wombat-socho has "Late Night With Rule 5 Sunday" and "FMJRA 2.0: As Falls Wichita…" up at The Other McCain.

Mass Immunization at Clinton.com

In a classic Friday night document dump (it's not always what you think, sometimes it's just bureaucrats trying to put something behind them for the weekend), the FBI released another 189 pages of documents from it's investigation into Hillary's email. One of the first details to emerge was that Clinton personal attorney and sometimes State Dept. employee Cheryl Mills (talk about a conflict of interest!) was granted immunity from prosecution, even though she was also allowed to represent Hillary at her interview with the FBI. She must be superwoman, because she can do anything and get away with it! This brings the total number of people in the probe granted immunity to five (that we know about), provoking Congressman Chaffetz to exclaim:

"This is beyond explanation,” the exasperated congressman said in a statement. “The FBI was handing out immunity agreements like candy. I've lost confidence in this investigation and I question the genuine effort in which it was carried out. Immunity deals should not be a requirement for cooperating with the FBI.”

“No wonder they couldn't prosecute a case.”

It's traditional that immunity agreements are given to lower level criminals to induce them to testify against the higher ranks. So we're handing out immunity for things "no reasonable prosecutor" would prosecute? Does not compute. If that was the idea here, it was notably unsuccessful. It looks more like protecting the Clinton Mob. Austin Bay at Insty's place:

THE ROTTEN IMMUNITY DEALS BEHIND THE FBI’S ROTTEN INVESTIGATION: Here we go again. FBI Director Comey’s recommendation not to prosecute Hillary stank when he made it and the stench just gets worse. Don’t let FBI Director Comey put a criminal in the White House.

The document tranche also revealed that  A Clinton IT Aide Discussed Hillary 'Cover-Up Operation' in Work Email. At least he knew what was going on, even if the FBI wouldn't bite. The employee later claimed it was a joke

A new document released by the FBI late this afternoon in another Friday document dump adds another damning piece of evidence to the inexplicably closed Clinton email case.

An employee at Platte River Networks, the company that managed Hillary Clinton's emails after she left the State Department, sent a work ticket that referred to the "Hilary [sic] coverup [sic] operation" (Hillary cover-up operation) after Clinton's team had asked the company to modify her email system so that it would automatically delete messages after 60 days.

Another revelation was that Barack H. Obama used an pseudonym when communicating with Hillary by email! Does this suggest he knew Hillary was using a private, unsecured email system?

In an April 5, 2016 interview with the FBI, Abedin was shown an email exchange between Clinton and Obama, but the longtime Clinton aide did not recognize the name of the sender.

"Once informed that the sender's name is believed to be pseudonym used by the president, Abedin exclaimed: 'How is this not classified?'" the report says. "Abedin then expressed her amazement at the president's use of a pseudonym and asked if she could have a copy of the email."

The State Department has refused to make public that and other emails Clinton exchanged with Obama. Lawyers have cited the "presidential communications privilege," a variation of executive privilege, in order to withhold the messages under the Freedom of Information Act.

I generally agree with the idea of the president having privilege, though, what about Nixon's tapes? Privileged on not? I'd love to know what Barack chose as a pseudonym was, though. But What Happens When You Can't Trust the FBI and the Department of Justice? It can't be good.

The Washington Post is starting to have its doubts: Is she ‘likable enough’? and When will millennials start liking Hillary Clinton? No and never.

So, did you hear that there's going to be a debate, Hillary and the media versus Donald on Monday night? Obama, secretly trying to undermine Hillary suggests that Hillary 'Be yourself'. Well, she's tried everything else. Rested And Ready, "Hillary postpones another fundraiser. Presumably she is resting up for her 3 PM phone call, when she will get a reminder to take some more meds." Debate Prep For Hillary, With Everything Omitted

Politico delivers a puff piece on Hillary's debate prep which completely ignores the real questions that are no doubt terrifying Team Hillarity!.

Inside Hillary Clinton’s debate prep
The Democrat holds more moot court than mock debate as she prepares to show her opponent as unbalanced and ill prepared.

"Ill prepared" is either a Freudian slip or a secret coded message highlighting the key question - how sick is Hillarity! and will she have some weird episode on stage?

Seriously, what is the plan if she commences a coughing fit? Do they let her stand their and hack away, or have they worked out a time-out signal? Can she really try to joke it off as "allergic to Trump" with Trump standing there? And by the way, both Trump and the moderator ought to have a plan in the back of their mind for this. Should Trump rush over and perform the Heimlich maneuver? It shows he is a take-charge guy but sort of disrespects personal boundaries. Tricky!

The coughing question has been covered in the debate rules. Time spent coughing comes out of the cougher's time to respond. Hillary also demanded requested a step stool to stand on to offset Donald's 10 inch height advantage, but was forced to settle for a proportionally sized podium. Also:

debate moderator Lester Holt, who anchors NBC Nightly News, will not have the power to instruct cameramen to 'cut away' from the stage if Clinton finds herself physically compromised during the 90-minute debate, the first of three showdowns before the November 8 election.

'And microphone audio for either of the candidates is not to be manipulated,' Drudge reported.

Can Hillary stand at a podium and answer questions for 90 minutes and not go all Googely-Goggely SpazzyEyes or collapsing? I wonder if she'll wear dark glasses? I expect her to be heavily medicated. Maybe we should demand blood tests! Hillary Clinton slams suggestions she needs neurological test despite bizarre video showing her eyes moving ‘out-of-sync’ It's only a little brain damage; nothing important.

Reporter: So You're Doin' Better
Hillary: Super, Thanks For Asking
Reporter: So You'd Take a Neurocognitive Assessment Test
Hillary: Neurocognitive Assessment Test? What, Like a Cloth?

Ed Driscol at Insty's: ARE THEY TRYING TO TELL US SOMETHING? Cast of Old TV Show About a President Hiding a Debilitating Disease to Stump for Hillary in Ohio.

Hillary: Demonic Possession or Natural Depravity? Choose the healing power of "and." The devil herself "A Deadpan Hillary Clinton Visits ‘Between Two Ferns.'" Mildly amusing. I now feel empowered to make withered vagina jokes about Hillary.

I think the riots in Charlotte are another nail in Hillary's coffin: Americans don't like riots. Clinton's silence on Charlotte is a liberal loss of nerve. How many dead black people does it take to elect Hillary? George Soros seems determined to find out and overshoot if necessary. As Americans Tire of Eco-Panic, Hillary Quietly Drops ‘Climate Change’ Rhetoric. Just responding to the political market.

Finally! The Clinton Family has a compound

As every Godfather fan knows, you’ve got to have a compound when your famiglia hits the big time.  I am sure we are supposed to associate “family compound” with the words “Hyannis” and “Kennedy,” but for me, “Corleone” comes to mind.

And the Clintons certainly have done that and more.  Jennifer Gould of the New York Post reports:

It’s not quite the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, but Bill and Hillary Clinton are expanding their Westchester spread by buying the house next door, The Post has learned.
The Clintons shelled out $1.16 million for the three-bedroom, 3,631-square-foot, ranch-style home set on 1.51 leafy acres on Old House Lane in Chappaqua.

One for Bill and one for Hillary? Speaking of sex crimes: Feds Subpoena Anthony Weiner's Phone Records

Most likely they're looking for evidence to back up the 15 year old's claim they had sexually-explicit Skype sessions. The sessions wouldn't be recorded (I don't think), but the fact that there was a Skype session (if there was one) would be pretty probative.

Via Wombat-socho's "In The Mailbox: 09.23.16", “How Is That not Classified?” Apparently Hillary Had E-Mails To Obama On Her Private Server, Fourteen Clinton Non-Profits And Super PACs Caught Laundering Money, Debate Prep For Hillary, With Everything Omitted, Hillary Thinks The Third World Has A Right To Move To The U.S., E-Mail Shows Federal Immigration Bosses Pushing To Swear In New Citizens “Due To Election” 

Also a pretty good bunch at Maggie's Farm:

“I can’t believe I’m losing to this guy!”, Is Trump the Only Republican Who Can Handle the Media Onslaught?, Hillary's fashion, Why Movement Conservatives Are Rooting for Hillary - Her victory is their only hope of preserving the status quo.,  Wealthy Voters Abandon Republican Party for Hillary Clinton, Clinton proposes bumping up estate tax "Tax and spend is all she's got. But everybody knows that the wealthy pay no estate taxes. She will not, for sure," Joss Whedon Almost Got Me to Vote For Trump, Inside Hillary Clinton’s Outrage Machine, Allies Push the Buttons and Why Trump Will Win: It's the Likability, Stupid!. Hillary: The Third World Has a “Right” to Move to the United States, Finally! The Clinton Family has a compound, Here’s a question Donald Trump should try and work in to the debate: why is Hillary Clinton against the right to work?, Hell is wherever Hillary is.