Bernstein: FBI Would Not Reopen Case Unless New Evidence Was "A Real Bombshell"

[bsteadman]

Bernstein: FBI Would Not Reopen Case Unless New Evidence Was "A Real Bombshell"

RealClear Politics
by Tim Hains
10/28/2016

Excerpt:

Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein comments on the FBI's shocking Friday afternoon announcement that they are reopening the investigation into Hilary Clinton's email server because new evidence has come to light.

CARL BERNSTEIN: Well, there's no question that the e-mails have always been the greatest threat to her candidacy for president, that her conduct in regard to the e-mails is really indefensible and if there was going to be more information that came out, it was the one thing, as I said on the air last night, actually that could really perhaps affect this election.

We don't know what this means yet except that it's a real bombshell. And it is unthinkable that the Director of the FBI would take this action lightly, that he would put this letter forth to the Congress of the United States saying there is more information out there about classified e-mails and call it to the attention of congress unless it was something requiring serious investigation. So that's where we are...

...........................................

View the complete article, including video, at:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/vid...bombshell.html

[bsteadman]

Huma Abedin Swore Under Oath She Gave Up ‘All the Devices’ With State Dept. Emails

The FBI found emails pertinent to its Clinton investigation, reportedly on a computer from her aide’s home. That doesn’t jibe with she told lawyers this summer.

The Daily Beast
by M.L. Nestel and Jackie Kucinich
10/29/2016

Excerpt:

In a normal election year, a normal candidate’s close aide who caused even minor embarrassment to a campaign so near to Election Day would be whisked away as quickly as possible to avoid becoming a distraction.

But Huma Abedin is not simply a close aide, she’s a critical member of Hillary Clinton’s tiny inner circle that protects and — at times — enables the deeply flawed and secretive Democratic nominee.

So despite FBI Director James Comey’s announcement that the bureau is reviewing emails from Abedin’s time at the State Department reportedly found on a laptop she shared with her soon-to-be ex-husband Anthony Weiner (confiscated as a part of the FBI’s investigation into allegations he sexted with a 15-year-old North Carolina girl), the campaign made clear on Saturday that she’s not going anywhere.

John Podesta, the chairman of the Clinton campaign, told reporters on a conference call that Abedin had been nothing but cooperative with investigators and sat for hours of depositions last summer as part of the civil lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch.

"There's nothing that she's done that we think calls into question anything that she's done with respect to this investigation… we fully stand behind her," Podesta said.

But the new information that the FBI found State Department-related email on her home laptop also calls into question whether Abedin in fact turned over all of the devices she used to send and receive email while working at State.

On June 28, 2016, Abedin said under oath in a sworn deposition that she looked for all devices that she thought contained government work on them so the records could be given to the State Department. (These records were subsequently reviewed by the FBI.)

“How did you go about searching for what records you may have in your possession to be returned to the State Department?” Attorney Ramona Cotca for Judicial Watch asked her.

“I looked for all the devices that may have any of my State Department work on it and returned — returned — gave them to my attorneys for them to review for all relevant documents. And gave them devices and paper,” Abedin answered.

Cotca then asked Abedin specifically what devices she gave her attorneys.

“If memory serves me correctly, it was two laptops, a BlackBerry, and some files that I found in my apartment,” Abedin said, adding the BlackBerry was associated with her Clintonemail.com account.

Abedin maintained that she was “not involved in the process” of what records on her devices would be given to the State Department.

“I provided them [her attorneys] with the devices and the materials and asked them to find whatever they thought was relevant and appropriate, whatever was their determination as to what was a federal record, and they did. They turned the materials in, and I know they did so….”
.................................................. ..............

View the complete article, including image, at:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...nt-emails.html

[bsteadman]

Clinton Campaign Asks Ex-Prosecutors to Criticize FBI Director James Comey

A letter drafted by Hillary’s team is being sent to former federal prosecutors in the hopes that they will sign on to criticize the FBI director’s unprecedented moves.

The Daily Beast
by Justin Miller
10/30/2016

Excerpt:

Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign ratcheted up its attack on the director of the FBI on Sunday, circulating a draft letter critical of James Comey to former federal prosecutors.

The letter was sent on the same day that Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta called Comey’s letter to Congress “long on innuendo, short on facts.” Comey told Congress on Friday that emails discovered in a separate investigation into Anthony Weiner’s sexting may be “pertinent” to the closed investigation of Clinton’s private server.

“It is out of our respect for such settled tenets of the United States Department of Justice that we are moved to express our concern with the recent letter issued by FBI Director James Comey to eight Congressional Committees,” the Clinton campaign’s letter speaking for prosecutors said.

The letter was signed and provided to The Daily Beast by Elkan Abramowitz, a former chief of the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. It is expected to be released Sunday evening.

Speaking for prosecutors, the letter said Comey’s “unprecedented decision to publicly comment on evidence in what may be an ongoing inquiry just eleven days before a presidential election leaves us both astonished and perplexed.”

The letter goes on to allege Comey violated “longstanding Justice Department guidelines” about making public statements on investigative matters, especially concerning political figures within 60 days of an election.

“Director Comey's letter is inconsistent with the prevailing Department policy, and it breaks with longstanding practices followed by officials of both parties during past elections,” the letter said.

Abramowitz said what Comey did was “outrageous.”
.................................................

View the complete article, including image, at:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...mes-comey.html