Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Monday, July 10, 2017

Comey rushed to close Clinton investigation for fear fake Russian intel would leak: Report

On Wednesday The Washington Post reported that former FBI director James Comey partially based his bizarre decision to unilaterally close the federal investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server on a dubious document that turned out to be a fake created by Russian officials. Now CNN reports that Comey knew all along that the “intel” was false — but acted on it anyway.

Unnamed officials with knowledge of the situation told CNN that Comey abruptly closed the investigation into Clinton’s private email server last summer partly in response to a piece of Russian intelligence purporting that then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch had secretly assured the Clinton campaign the investigation would not go too deep. The unidentified officials told CNN that Comey feared that if the false information became public it would undermine the investigation as well as the Justice Department itself; Comey evidently believed it would be too difficult to disprove such an accusation in the midst of a campaign without giving up intelligence sources and methods.

“Sources close to Comey tell CNN he felt that it didn’t matter if the information was accurate, because his big fear was that if the Russians released the information publicly, there would be no way for law enforcement and intelligence officials to discredit it without burning intelligence sources and methods,” CNN reported on Friday. “In at least one classified session, Comey cited that intelligence as the primary reason he took the unusual step of publicly announcing the end of the Clinton email probe.”

On July 5, 2016, Comey announced, without notifying the Justice Department, that the FBI was closing the investigation in Clinton’s emails and that there would be no prosecution of the former secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee. The Post reported earlier this week that, according to sources, Comey also felt he had “little choice” but to close the investigation “because he feared that if . . . the secret document leaked, the legitimacy of the entire case would be questioned.”

The report that Comey was, in fact, aware of the dubious source of the information comes one day after Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe traveled to Capitol Hill to tell the Senate Intelligence Committee that the FBI had not been duped by dodgy Russian intelligence, according to CNN.

CNN also reported that when Comey testified before Congress in a closed-door session before being fired by President Donald Trump he failed to inform lawmakers that he doubted the veracity of the intel.

Perhaps even more troubling, CNN also reported that according to multiple U.S. officials, “to this day Russia is trying to spread false information in the US — through elected officials and American intelligence and law enforcement operatives — in order to cloud and confuse ongoing investigations.”

Original Article
Source: salon.com
Author: Sophia Tesfaye

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