State Department Inspector General Releases Scathing Report on Hillary Clinton

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The State Department’s inspector general has determined that Hillary Clinton did not comply with the agency’s record policies, singling out her use of a private, unsecured email server for particular scrutiny. The IG further revealed that Clinton and her aides refused to participate in the review.

The independent watchdog’s 83-page report to lawmakers noted one of the major failures of the former secretary of state was not turning over her emails when she left office, as required by law. “Therefore, Secretary Clinton should have preserved any Federal records she created and received on her personal account by printing and filing those records with the related files in the Office of the Secretary,” the report states.

“At a minimum, Secretary Clinton should have surrendered all emails dealing with Department business before leaving government service and, because she did not do so, she did not comply with the Department’s policies that were implemented in accordance with the Federal Records Act,” it adds.

“In December 2014, nearly two years after leaving office, she turned over more than 30,000 emails she said represented all of her work related correspondence. She said she also exchanged about 31,000 personal emails during her time as secretary and those notes have been deleted,” The Washington Post reported.

While current Secretary of State John Kerry and former secretaries Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice all cooperated with the review, Clinton and her former State Department aides Cheryl Mills, Jake Sullivan and Huma Abedin all declined to do so.

The IG review is separate from the FBI investigation into whether Clinton’s use of a private, unsecured server violated the law regarding the handling of classified information.

As reported by Western Journalism, more than 2,000 Clinton emails were found to contain classified information, including 22 designated “top secret” and too damaging to be released to the public, even now.

When the story broke of Clinton’s use of an unsecured server last spring, she told reporters “no classified material” was on it. Later in the summer, she said it contained none that was “classified at the time.” In late January, she stated no information had been “marked classified.”

The report comes at a difficult time for Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, as she has seen her lead in the polls against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump vanish. Her lack of honesty and trustworthiness is one of the main factors identified by poll respondents who hold a negative view of her candidacy. (For more from the author of “State Department Inspector General Releases Scathing Report on Hillary Clinton” please click HERE)

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Kasich Makes Announcement About Trump Endorsement

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If Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wants Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s endorsement, the presumptive GOP nominee will have to make some changes.

“Think of it as a merger of two companies,” Kasich said in an interview Tuesday with Ohio reporters. “If the values are not somewhat similar, if the culture is not somewhat similar, it’s pretty hard to do a merger.”

Kasich, who in the past has said he may never get to the point where he would back Trump, later elaborated, noting his dislike for the way Trump will “run people into the ditch.”

“Unless I see a fundamental change in that approach, it’s really hard for me to do a merger,” he said. “If he changes, that’s a whole new ballgame. But if the cultures don’t change, mergers aren’t possible.”

During the interview session, Kasich, who suspended his presidential campaign after the Indiana primary, contrasted his approach with that of Trump, saying the billionaire made Americans out as victims without offering solutions.

“It’s easier to consider yourself a victim than it is to stand against the wind, particularly when you have people telling you it’s not your fault,” Kasich said. “And it wasn’t their fault. But when you create a scapegoat situation – ‘Well, the reason why you don’t have something is because someone else does’ – that is a message at this point in time that is more effective than, ‘Hey, we can work our way through this.’”

Kasich said he will write a book on his campaign experiences and use it to share his optimistic message of where the nation should go.

“It’s my message, and I don’t really think so much about how it fits into the Republican Party,” Kasich said. “I think people intuitively know that message is correct. But there’s a tug-of-war going on, I believe, in the country right now between people who are legitimately upset for a variety of reasons. Their concerns, fears, insecurities have to be acknowledged. The question is, do you stand against the wind and make the best out of what you have in life? Or do you go and become a victim?” (For more from the author of “Kasich Makes Announcement About Trump Endorsement” please click HERE)

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The ‘SWAT’ Team Just Stormed Capitol Hill

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That title evokes an image of armed law enforcement officers storming the Capitol. But in fact, there are no police officers involved; nor any weapons. Instead, that title is in reference to an article published by The Hill on a brilliant idea by Republicans to assemble a “budget SWAT team” in one last attempt to pass a budget.

Never mind the fact that the House has already started to pass spending bills, which, for obvious reasons, are only supposed to happen after the passage of a budget. So why would House Republicans want a budget now? The answer, one supposes, is politics. They want to be able to say they voted for lower spending levels in a budget, while then voting for spending bills that blow those lower spending levels away. This is Washington’s “house of mirrors” at its finest.

The “SWAT” team will be made up of eight Republicans, which will include Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH). Apparently the plan was hatched by Republican Study Committee (RSC) chairman Bill Flores (R-TX), who was quoted as saying:

Earlier this month, I recommended that Speaker [Paul] Ryan put together a small team of interested individuals with disparate views to develop a path forward to get a budget on the floor.

But for the life of me, I just don’t get why they want a budget so badly. To those unfamiliar with the process, the budget is really less useful than toilet paper. (At least toilet paper is useful for something.)

The budget is useless because at best it accomplishes absolutely nothing; at worst, it’s used as a faux campaign document for Republicans—a “check the box” vote for lower spending levels, before then going on to ignore their existence. Yet, in reality, it simply is a document full of gimmicks, misplaced revenues and apathetic attempts to repeal Obamacare or other reforms.

To prove my point, let’s look at last year’s budget.

Budget Promise: The Republican budget passed last year promised to cut discretionary spending for fiscal year (FY) 2017 from the statutory spending caps included in the Budget Control Act (BCA).

In total, the BCA has a FY2017 budget cap level of $1.040 trillion; yet, the Republicans passed a budget that further reduced those spending levels by $26 billion ($1.013 trillion).

As a result, the Republican budget was supposed to produce a budget deficit of $400 billion, down from $438 billion in 2015.

The budget also promised to repeal Obamacare, implement tax and welfare reform, and produce a balanced budget.

Outcome: Republicans failed to implement even a single item in their budget – not one. The Obamacare repeal never landed on the president’s desk. Tax reform was never honestly attempted, nor was there any attempt to find the $5 trillion in promised spending cuts.

In fact, Republicans actually increased spending. Instead of reducing total discretionary spending levels to $1.013 trillion as the budget promised, Republicans increased spending by $57 billion above those levels.

A congressional budget can be a noble goal. But doing one merely to distract and trick the voters is wrong. At no point did Republicans actually try to legislate the budget. It was little more than a document members touted, but had zero intention of implementing. Republicans and conservatives deserve better; if our representatives are going to pass a budget, they should try to enforce it – perhaps that would be a better use of a budget SWAT team. (For more from the author of “The ‘SWAT’ Team Just Stormed Capitol Hill” please click HERE)

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This Could Be the First State to Put Gun Owners in Federal Database

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Hawaii could become the first state in the United States to enter gun owners into an FBI database that will automatically notify police if an island resident is arrested anywhere else in the country.

Most people entered in the “Rap Back” database elsewhere in the U.S. are those in “positions of trust,” such as school teachers and bus drivers, said Stephen Fischer of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division. Hawaii could be the first state to add gun owners.

“I don’t like the idea of us being entered into a database. It basically tells us that they know where the guns are, they can go grab them” said Jerry Ilo, a firearm and hunting instructor for the state. “We get the feeling that Big Brother is watching us.” (Read more from “This Could Be the First State to Put Gun Owners in Federal Database” HERE)

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Does This DOJ Memo Hint That Criminal Action Against Hillary Is Forthcoming?

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A new filing by the Justice Department contains a key phrase that some might construe as a hint that criminal prosecution is being planned for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Last week, Vice News reporter Jason Leopold formally protested the classification of an FBI declaration that provided details about the investigation into how sensitive information ended up on Clinton’s private email server.

The Justice Department submitted the declaration as part of “a secret filing,” but a U.S. District Court judge ordered them to publicly submit a redacted copy of the document or at least “show cause why” that isn’t possible.

They responded in kind by saying they couldn’t make the document public because it would “adversely affect the ongoing investigation” into Clinton’s private email server.

Fair enough, but it is two words further into the DOJ memorandum that will be sure to raise some eyebrows. The department claims it can’t reveal the document because doing so could “reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.”

Via Law Newz:

Attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice say they cannot make public a classified FBI declaration because it would “adversely affect the ongoing investigation” into Hillary Clinton’s private email server. The recent filing by DOJ attorneys, obtained by LawNewz.com, is significant because it not only acknowledges the ongoing federal probe, but also asserts that if the declaration is made public, it could “reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.”

Enforcement proceedings? Does this mean the FBI has found enforcement to be necessary?

It should be noted that this particular phrase is used in federal law on disclosing public information “compiled for law enforcement purposes,” in tandem with another set criteria – when “the investigation or proceeding involves a possible violation of criminal law.”

The Legal Information Institute writes:

(1) Whenever a request is made which involves access to records described in subsection (b)(7)(A) and—

(A) the investigation or proceeding involves a possible violation of criminal law; and

(B) there is reason to believe that (i) the subject of the investigation or proceeding is not aware of its pendency, and (ii) disclosure of the existence of the records could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings, the agency may, during only such time as that circumstance continues, treat the records as not subject to the requirements of this section. [Emphasis added]

That’s a far cry from the “security review” Clinton has repeatedly claimed the FBI is undertaking. (For more from the author of “Does This DOJ Memo Hint That Criminal Action Against Hillary Is Forthcoming?” please click HERE)

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Report Reveals the Truth About Newt Gingrich’s 2012 Presidential Campaign

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Running a presidential campaign is costly, with many campaigns operating in the red.

According to a Bloomberg report, the campaign with the largest outstanding debt belongs to Newt Gingrich, owing $4.6 million for his 2012 presidential campaign.

A Huffington Post article from July 2015 reported the campaign was indebted to several businesses, the largest portion of the debt, 1.8 million, owed to Moby Dick Airways for chartered jet service.

Campaign field and political operator Bo Harmon revealed he is still owed $25,000 for his work organizing volunteers, as well as canvassing neighborhoods and making phone calls. Harmon said he called for 2 years following the campaign’s end attempting to collect the amount he was owed, but never received a response.

“Especially with someone like Newt, you hope they conduct themselves in a different way than that. So it’s very disappointing,” Harmon said. “He’s not the first politician to disappoint his supporters, and he won’t be the last.”

A deadline for Gingrich’s debt settlement plan, originally set for May 23, has been moved to August 1.

Gingrich is not the only one to owe for campaign expenses. President Obama’s campaign still owes $2.4 million for his 2012 campaign, while Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson owes $1.4 million for his 2012 bid for the White House. Others like Reverend Al Sharpton and former Senator John Edwards are still in campaign debt.

In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Gingrich confirmed he would consider joining the Donald Trump presidential ticket. “I endorse Donald Trump. I’m going to work very hard for the nominee,” he said.

When asked if Gingrich was on the short list of possible running mates, presumptive Republican nominee Trump said, “Absolutely. I’ll say yes, because he’s been such a supporter. I mean, anybody that supports me is on the shortlist as far as I’m concerned.” (For more from the author of “Report Reveals the Truth About Newt Gingrich’s 2012 Presidential Campaign” please click HERE)

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Sanders Dings Disney Near Disneyland

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Bernie Sanders spent his Tuesday morning campaigning mere miles from Disneyland, a.k.a. “The Happiest Place on Earth.” But the Democratic candidate devoted a portion of his speech to supporters in Anaheim, California, ripping into The Walt Disney Company, or the “Disney corporation,” as he referred to it, for unfairly compensating its workers and representing another corporation benefiting from an unjustly rigged economy . . .

“Let me just start off and be very blunt. We’re here in Anaheim. Everybody knows the major economic force here in Anaheim is the Disney corporation. Anybody here work for Disney?” Sanders asked. The crowd cheered. Sanders then asked, “Anybody here making a living wage from Disney?” The audience responded with a louder, “No!”

“Here in Anaheim and the surrounding areas, Disney pays its workers wages that are so low that many of them are forced to live in motels because they can’t afford a decent place to live,” Sanders said, as the crowd booed. “Meanwhile Disney made a record-breaking profit of nearly $3 billion last quarter.” (Disney’s $2.9 billion profit came in the first fiscal quarter of 2016 reported in January; in its most recent report of the second quarter on May 10, the company reported earnings of $2.1 billion.)

At Walt Disney World in Florida, Sanders noted, the company replaced 250 workers with low-wage foreign workers through H-1B visas. “Meanwhile the CEO of Disney made $46.5 million in total compensation last year,” Sanders said, as the crowd booed again. “That is what we’re talking about in a rigged economy.” (Read more from “Sanders Dings Disney Near Disneyland” HERE)

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STAR CHAMBER: EPA Holding Secret Meetings to Decide How to Dole out Billions in Illegal Slush Funds

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Two internal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) committees secretly control how billions of dollars are spent, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation has found.

Congress appropriates about $1 billion annually for EPA’s Superfund program, and the agency has accumulated nearly $6.8 billion in more than 1,300 slush fund-like accounts since 1990.

Two committees consisting entirely of EPA officials meet behind closed doors twice annually to decide how the agency spends those funds on highly polluted – and often dangerous – Superfund sites. All reports to and from the groups, as well as the minutes of their meetings and all other details, are kept behind closed doors.

“The National Risk-Based Priority Panel and the Superfund Special Accounts Senior Management Committee engage in pre-decisional deliberations which are internal to the agency and not open to the public,” an EPA spokeswoman who requested anonymity told TheDCNF.

She was referring to Exemption Five of the Freedom of Information Act, which is the most often abused exemption federal officials cite to justify withholding information about government activities and programs.

“The public is given ample time to weigh in on during the public comment period once the site is proposed for [National Priorities List (NPL)] addition,” the spokeswoman continued. “EPA considers those comments before making a final decision.”

These committees, however, are involved in financial decisions, rather than adding a site to the NPL – how the EPA finalizes a Superfund designation, so the comment period does nothing to advance public understanding of how the two committees spend billions of tax dollars every year.

“Established in January 2009, the Special Accounts Senior Management Committee … is responsible for EPA’s national oversight and management of special accounts,” the agency’s website says. The committee “ensures appropriate management, transparency, and accountability … with special accounts.”

Yet, the committee’s work is kept secret from the public.

Meanwhile, the agency has collected $6.3 billion in approximately 1,308 special accounts from lawsuits and settlements with parties responsible for polluting superfund sites, but details beyond regional balances are withheld from the public, TheDCNF previously reported.

It’s nearly impossible to determine where the estimated $3.3 billion spent so far went, or who will get the remaining $3.5 billion (after adding interest). The EPA will also continue collecting funds from new superfund sites, such as the recently proposed Gold King Mine, where the agency spilled 880,000 pounds of dangerous metals into drinking water.

Additionally, the EPA’s Inspector General has criticized numerous aspects of the special accounts, including the agency’s overall bookkeeping. The watchdog previously recommended transferring $65 million out of special accounts, for example.

The second group – the Superfund National Risk-Based Priority Panel – determines which unfunded sites require immediate attention based on several factors, such as the risk to the nearby community.

But the panel’s secrecy prevents residents from knowing where nearby hazardous places stand as an agency priority. This is particularly important, since 329 Superfund sites could expose dangerous contaminants to humans, according to EPA.

This confidentiality is necessary “to prevent polluters from taking advantage of the EPA’s funding decisions,” the EPA told the Center for Public Integrity in 2007. “Agency insiders,” however, told the center the real reason was to avoid congressional scrutiny.

That revelation is crucial, considering EPA withholds details about the special accounts, as well as sites endangering humans, from Congress. Not having such information effectively prevents Congress from exercising its constitutionally mandated oversight of executive branch agencies like EPA.

The EPA, for example, refused to divulge information about the sites exposing humans to dangerous contaminants to Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works democrats – including then-Sen. Barack Obama and Ranking Member Barbara Boxer of California, CPI reported. Some of the documents were eventually obtained, but were marked “privileged,” and could only be reviewed under EPA supervision.

Boxer’s spokeswoman did not respond to repeated DCNF requests for comment. (For more from the author of “STAR CHAMBER: EPA Holding Secret Meetings to Decide How to Dole out Billions in Illegal Slush Funds” please click HERE)

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Has the IRS Been Illegally Deleting Records?

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The Cause of Action Institute (CoA) filed a legal complaint against the Internal Revenue Service for illegally destroying records Tuesday, at the same time that IRS commissioner John Koskinen approaches an impeachment trial before Congress.

In the complaint, CoA alleges that the IRS and Koskinen refused to “capture and preserve” employees’ electronic communication dealing with official business, as the law requires.

Here’s a piece of the press release from CoA’s website:

“The IRS and Commissioner Koskinen have a legal obligation to preserve official work communications between employees. It appears that federal records are being deleted because the IRS, in a deal with its employee union, refuses to preserve certain types of electronic communications. This lawsuit seeks to ensure that IRS follows the law. No agreement with a union or any other party can supersede Americans right to know how the IRS makes decisions.”

Documents obtained by CoA Institute show that the IRS has a private agreement with its employee union stipulating that the agency will not save the instant message records of its employees. But the IRS cannot allow such an agreement to supersede its statutory obligations to preserve records. In addition, the IRS is violating the law by regularly deleting all employee text messages as a matter of convenience.

The IRS’s obligation to capture and preserve relevant records is drawn from the Federal Records Act (FRA). The complaint filed by CoA is intended to establish a court order requiring the IRS to create and implement guidelines for acquiring and keeping such information.

As reported by the Washington Post, commissioner Koskinen could become the first agency leader to be removed from office since 1876 when War Secretary William Belknap was facing corruption charges. The House Judiciary Committee is set to hold impeachment hearings next week. (For more from the author of “Has the IRS Been Illegally Deleting Records?” please click HERE)

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Congress Takes Next Step to Impeach IRS Chief

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House Republicans will soon take the next steps necessary in their bid to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.

On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee plans to hear testimony and examine charges that Koskinen obstructed a congressional investigation into the agency’s treatment of conservative groups.

While Koskinen is willing to appear at a second hearing in June, the Internal Revenue Service told Politico that the 76-year old commissioner was not able to prepare adequately for the Tuesday hearing. So the nation’s top taxman won’t show.

In a written statement to the Judiciary Committee, Koskinen described the allegations and impeachment resolution as “without merit” and “unwarranted.”

“Under my direction,” Koskinen wrote, “the IRS has responded comprehensively and in good faith to the various subpoenas and document requests from the investigating entities.”

Nevertheless, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told The Daily Signal “that the second hearing is more important.” The Freedom Caucus Chairman, who helped spearhead the impeachment effort, explained that the first hearing “is just sort of to get the facts out there.”

Republicans, like Jordan, say there’s plenty to cover at Tuesday’s hearing without Koskinen.

Conservatives argue that Koskinen is unfit to be tax chief because he flouted congressional authority, allowed subpoenaed emails to be destroyed, and misled the public during his testimony.

“Never lose site of the underlying offense though,” Jordan said, “an agency, with the power the IRS has over American lives, systematically targeted people for their political beliefs. That is as fundamentally wrong you can be.”

In 2010, the agency began flagging applications from conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status. Tax agents targeted applications for further review that contained terms such as tea party, patriot, and government spending.

Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., described the agency’s subsequent conduct as “a total obstruction of justice,” in an April interview with The Daily Signal. “And the question is, will Congress do anything when an agency like that walks all over us? Or are we just going to let is happen?”

The Florida prosecutor, who sits on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is slated to testify Tuesday and he’s had plenty of time to prepare: the effort began last October in that committee under chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah.

Since then, the GOP brass have been hesitant to continue the impeachment process. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said that the IRS “needs to be cleaned up” but said that’s a task best suited for after the November election.

To place pressure on leadership, members of the Freedom Caucus went to the floor on April 14 to deliver speeches calling on Ryan and Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., to end their opposition to proceeding with impeachment.

Later, behind closed doors, conservatives threatened to go it alone. The Freedom Caucus threatened to use a mechanism known as a “privileged resolution” to force a floor vote on impeachment if leadership declined.

Jordan said he believes that Koskinen’s record combined with “members of the Freedom Caucus pushing our leadership to do it, that’s what finally caused us actually to get a hearing.”

After going through the Judiciary Committee, the impeachment effort would still require a majority of the House before going to the Senate for further consideration.

But Jordan wouldn’t comment on what the Freedom Caucus might do if the impeachment effort again got bogged down in committee. The Ohio chairman would only say that “we’re committed to impeaching Mr. Koskinen.”

Historically, this would be a rare move: Congress has only deployed its impeachment power 19 times since the nation’s founding. Koskinen would be just the 20th federal official to be put on congressional trial, and could become only the ninth convicted.

Though the IRS provided Koskinen’s written testimony to The Daily Signal, they did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for additional comment. (For more from the author of “Congress Takes Next Step to Impeach IRS Chief” please click HERE)

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