(07.10.2020)
– Recent declassifications by DNI John Ratcliffe: „I thought it was a outrageous, appalling and blatant act of politicization that he released, very selectively, some intelligence that was provided then to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is right now engaged in, I think, a very partisan effort to try to debunk the necessary investigative efforts of the FBI that looked into Russian interference in the 2016 election.“
(30.09.2020)
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified unverified Russian intelligence despite concerns being raised by the CIA and National Security Agency, according to people briefed on the matter.
Career officials in the intelligence agencies were concerned about declassifying the information because it was unverified and they believed it could reveal sources and methods. Ratcliffe overrode those concerns and sent the document to Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham on Tuesday, the people sa
(30.09.2020)
Graham pointed to the documents declassified Tuesday by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe — which summarized unverified Russian intelligence that Clinton‘s 2016 presidential campaign was trying to „stir up a scandal“ by tying Trump to Russia — arguing they showed the FBI‘s double standard in not investigating Clinton and Russia.
One Republicans senator even asked Comey about the Democratic allegations he had swung the 2016 election to Trump by releasing information about the FBI‘s investigation into Clinton‘s emails.
(29.09.2020)
“According to his handwritten notes, former Central Intelligence Agency Director Brennan subsequently briefed President Obama and other senior national security officials on the intelligence, including the ‘alleged approval by Hillary Clinton on July 26, 2016 of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by Russian security services.’”
„On 07 September 2016, U.S. intelligence officials forwarded an investigative referral to FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok regarding ‘U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton‘s approval of a plan concerning U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private mail server,’” the letter continues.
The newly public documents include notes of a Jan. 25, 2017 meeting between FBI and DOJ officials in which Deputy Assistant Attorney General Tashina Gauhar included several passages indicating that the agents who interviewed Flynn about his dealings with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak saw no indication Flynn was trying to deceive them. Gauhar recounts that the agents thought Flynn was “being forthright” and “believe[d] that F. believe[d] that what he said was true.”
Regardless of our political leanings, what happened to Michael Flynn should concern every American. While we should insist on details about his case, a more important question needs to be answered:
How many other people have been treated similarly by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies?
(23.03.2017)
Am 12. März äußerte sich dann jemand, der Ahnung hat: Rand Paul. In der „CBS“-Sendung „Face the Nation“ rückte Rand Paul, unter vielem Hin und Her und Ach und jaa-nee, endlich mit der Sprache heraus (Links wurden hinzugefügt):
„Der Weg wie es funktioniert ist – das F.I.S.A.-Gericht, mittels Section 702 (Anm.: vom Patriot Act), hört Ausländer ab und hört dann Amerikanern zu. Es ist eine Durchleuchtung von Amerikanern durch die Hintertür. Und weil sie so viele Daten haben, können sie abhören — tippen sie Donald Trump in ihre gewaltigen Ressourcen (Anm.: Datenbanken) über Leute ein, die sie in Übersee abhören, und sie kriegen alle seine Telefonanrufe.
Und so haben sie das mit Präsident Obama gemacht. Sie — eintausendzweihundertsiebenundzwanzig Mal haben sie Präsident Obamas Telefonanrufe belauscht. Dann maskieren sie ihn (Anm.: anonymisieren seine Daten). Aber hier ist das Problem. Und General Hayden hat dies am anderen Tag gesagt. Er sagte, sogar niedere Angestellte können den Anrufer demaskieren (Anm.: die Daten wieder einer bestimmten Person zuordnen). Das ist vermutlich dass, was Flynn passiert ist.
Sie zielen nicht auf Amerikaner. Sie zielen auf Ausländer. Aber sie tun das absichtlich, um an Amerikaner heran zu kommen.“
Nov. 18, 2016:
Trump announces Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as his choice for National Security Adviser. Over the next few weeks, Flynn communicates with numerous international leaders.
Nov. 30 – Dec. 28, 2016:
Two dozen Obama administration officials make requests to unmask the name of National Security Adviser designee Flynn, who was „incidentally“ captured by intel surveillance. The officials include: U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and CIA Director John Brennan.
Jan. 5, 2017:
Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough requests Flynn unmasking.
Intelligence Community leadership, including FBI Director James Comey, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, CIA Director Brennan and Director of National Intelligence Clapper, provides classified briefing to President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and National Security Adviser Susan Rice on alleged Russia hacking during 2016 campaign, according to notes later written by Rice.
After briefing, according to Rice’s notes, President Obama convenes Oval Office meeting with her, Comey, Biden, and Yates. The „Steele dossier“ is reportedly discussed. Also reportedly discussed: Flynn‘s intercepted talks with Russia‘s ambassador.
Sen. Rand Paul called for acting Director of National Intelligence Rick Grenell to testify about a list of Obama administration officials, including Obama and Biden, involved in the „unmasking“ of then-incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn‘s communications after the 2016 election.
Speaking to members of the press, Paul also said he wanted testimony from the officials on the list, including James Comey and James Clapper.
(today)
….They want to Impeach me (I’m not worried!), and yet they were all breaking the law in so many ways. How can they do that and yet impeach a very successful (Economy Plus) President of the United States, who has done nothing wrong? These people are Crazy!
10,120 replies 12,033 retweets 44,359 likes
It wasn‘t immediately clear what criticism the president was referring to, as the officials had not issued public statements on Trump‘s tweet or his decision to release an image taken by U.S. forces of a damaged Iranian rocket facility. Trump has faced criticism from some Democrats for releasing the image due to its high resolution and concerns over whether it should have remained classified.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY,
JOINT WITH THE
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT,
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
WASHINGTON, D.C.
INTERVIEW OF: JAMES COMEY
Friday, December 7, 2018
Washington, D.C.
The interview in the above matter was held in Room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, commencing at 10:12 a.m.
(29.11.2018) British intelligence agency MI6 is secretly pressuring President Donald Trump to avoid publishing classified information related to the Russia investigation and a surveillance warrant for his former campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page, according to reports.
He didn’t seem to know that his own FBI was using No. 4 Justice Department official Bruce Ohr as a conduit to keep collecting intelligence from Christopher Steele after the British intel operative was fired by the bureau for leaking and lying. In fact, Comey didn’t seem to remember knowing that Steele had been terminated, according to sources in the room.
“His memory was so bad I feared he might not remember how to get out of the room after the interview,” one lawmaker quipped.
Der US-Kongress hat am Freitag erneut den früheren FBI-Direktor James Comey befragt.
(12.12.2016) we draw on decades of senior-level experience – with emphasis on cyber-intelligence and security – to cut through uninformed, largely partisan fog. Far from hiding behind anonymity, we are proud to speak out with the hope of gaining an audience appropriate to what we merit – given our long labors in government and other areas of technology. And corny though it may sound these days, our ethos as intelligence professionals remains, simply, to tell it like it is – without fear or favor.
We have gone through the various claims about hacking. For us, it is child’s play to dismiss them. The email disclosures in question are the result of a leak, not a hack.
(16.12.2016) “Earlier this week, I met separately with (Director) FBI James Comey and DNI Jim Clapper, and there is strong consensus among us on the scope, nature, and intent of Russian interference in our presidential election,” Brennan wrote, U.S. intelligence sources confirmed. “The three of us also agree that our organizations, along with others, need to focus on completing the thorough review of this issue that has been directed by President Obama and which is being led by the DNI.”
(23.7.2018) James B. Comey, the former FBI director and a registered Republican most of his adult life, is trying out a new role: armchair strategist for the Democratic Party.
Days after urging voters to paint the country blue in the midterm elections this fall, Comey took to Twitter on Sunday to caution Democrats not to move too far to the left.
„Then-Director Comey … engaged in his own subjective, ad hoc decision making,“ the report written by the inspector general of the Justice Department reads. „In so doing, we found that Comey largely based his decisions on what he believed was in the FBI’s institutional interests and would enable him to continue to effectively lead the FBI as its Director.
Der frühere FBI-Direktor James Comey hat sich bei der Untersuchung der E-Mail-Affäre Hillary Clintons zwar «unbotmässig» benommen. Er ist «klar und in dramatischer Weise» von lange etablierten Normen abgewichen und hat damit dem Ruf des FBI und des Justizministeriums Schaden zugefügt. Allerdings liegen keine Hinweise vor, dass es für dieses Verhalten ein politisches Motiv gab.
University of Michigan Professor Barbara McQuade, a former prosecutor, said that Giuliani “may just be building the case against [Trump]. Even demanding that Comey make a public statement that Trump is not under investigation would itself potentially be obstruction of justice.” Likewise, New York Magazine observed “many pundits were quick to note that firing Comey because he wouldn’t say what Trump wanted about the Russia investigation, sounds like the very definition of obstruction of justice.”
Attacke zur besten Sendezeit: Ex-FBI-Chef Comey hat US-Präsident Trump in einem Interview mit dem US-Sender ABC aufs Schärfste kritisiert: Eine Person, die ständig lüge, sei moralisch ungeeignet für das Amt.
President Trump attacked James B. Comey in a fusillade of tweets Sunday morning, suggesting that the former FBI director deserves to be imprisoned as he served up a number of his favorite theories and alleged misdeeds without evidence.
„Dieser Präsident ist skrupellos und nicht an die Wahrheit und institutionelle Werte gebunden“, zitiert die New York Times aus dem Buch. Auch sei Trump eine „Art Mafiaboss“, der die Grenzen zwischen Polizeiarbeit und Politik habe verwischen wollen. „Donald Trumps Präsidentschaft bedroht vieles von dem, das in dieser Nation gut ist“, schreibt Comey laut US-Medien.
Trump lebe in einem „Kokon einer alternativen Realität“, in den er die Menschen in seinem Umfeld hineinziehen wolle, zitierte die Washington Post aus dem Buch. Treffen mit Trump hätten ihn an seine „frühere Karriere als Strafverfolger gegen die Mafia“ erinnert, schreibt Comey demnach und bezeichnet Trump der Nachrichtenagentur AP zufolge selbst als eine „Art Mafia-Boss“. „Dieser Präsident ist skrupellos und nicht an die Wahrheit und institutionelle Werte gebunden“, schreibt Comey laut New York Times.
(10.6.2017) “I was worried very much of being in kind of a — kind of a J. Edgar Hoover-type situation,” Comey said, referring to the legendary director — you might say dictator — of the FBI for half a century.
It was remarkable to hear Comey talk this way about the man more associated with the bureau than anyone else — but he had good reason: It helps us contextualize what is happening now, because things were even more fucked up a century ago, and that should make us feel a little better.
ABC and other news organizations said they had obtained copies of the book, which does not go on sale until next week.
According to ABC, Comey writes that when Trump demanded loyalty from him at a White House dinner, “The demand was like Sammy the Bull’s Cosa Nostra induction ceremony.” That was a reference to the mobster Salvatore “Sammy the Bull,” whose testimony helped convict John Gotti, the leader of New York’s Gambino crime family.