Well, the report from the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz is here. Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, former FBI Director James Comey, and ex-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe were placed under the microscope for their activities during the 2016 election, namely the Hillary Clinton email probe and the investigation into the Clinton Foundation. Katie and Guy broke down the major nuggets of the report, notably how Mr. Comey went way outside the protocol during the Clinton email probe. The IG report also noted that the arguments for why the ex-FBI chief informed Congress on October 28, 2016, that the FBI would be essentially rebooting the email probe after new emails were found on Huma Abedin’s laptop, Abedin is a top Clinton aide, were unpersuasive.

In that final chapter of the email saga, it was later determined that Abedin and Anthony Weiner, her convicted sexual predator husband, shared the device. Weiner was being investigated on a separate matter concerning inappropriate communications with a minor.

So, Democrats have yet another reason to hate James Comey. Mr. McCabe’s recusal from the Clinton probes on November 1, 2016 was seen as not an absolute requirement, but something that was the right course of action. He did not honor the recusal at times, but we already know he lied to investigators three times during a leak investigation. A leak that McCabe instigated, telling The Wall Street Journal that there were tensions between the DOJ and FBI over the Clinton Foundation probe. The infamous tarmac meeting that occurred days before James Comey’s July 5 presser between Lynch and former President Bill Clinton that tainted the email probe yielded nothing new in this report. There’s no evidence to suggest that anything else, besides golf and grandkids, was discussed.

Yet, the texts between FBI agent Peter Strzok and bureau lawyer Lisa Page did not go unnoticed. The two were having an extramarital affair, sending each other tens of thousands of texts. They were anti-Trump in nature of course. The latest nugget from these texts is that Strzok explicitly told Page that they would stop Trump from becoming president. In all, the report found that five agents of the FBI, including Strzok and Page, should be referred for disciplinary action for careless use of government property to communicate their personal opinions:

The conduct of the five FBI employees described in sections A, B, and C of this Chapter has brought discredit to themselves, sowed doubt about the FBI’s handling of the Midyear investigation, and impacted the reputation of the FBI. As described in Chapter Five, our review did not find documentary or testimonial evidence directly connecting the political views these employees expressed in their text messages and instant messages to the specific investigative decisions we reviewed in Chapter Five. Nonetheless, the conduct by these employees cast a cloud over the FBI Midyear investigation and sowed doubt the FBI’s work on, and its handling of, the Midyear investigation. Moreover, the damage caused by their actions extends far beyond the scope of the Midyear investigation and goes to the heart of the FBI’s reputation for neutral factfinding and political independence.

(Read more from “IG Report: FBI Agents Bribed by Journalists to Leak Information” HERE)

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Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley disputed claims Thursday that a congressional subpoena would be necessary in certain cases for a government employee to give lawmakers testimony about wrongdoing while being ensured appropriate legal protections from their agency.

“I want to clear up a few things. I have been seeing reports that individuals within our federal law enforcement agencies want to talk to Congress about problems they have seen on the job. But, the reports say these individuals want to be subpoenaed by congressional committees, rather than coming forward voluntarily,” Chairman Grassley said in a floor speech.

He went on to say, “There is a perception that without a subpoena, they have no legal protection against retaliation for cooperating with Congress. That is nonsense and a misperception that has been fomented by FBI and DOJ leadership for many years.”

The Daily Caller first reported late Tuesday night that FBI agents would be willing to testify before lawmakers on Capitol Hill about the problems plaguing the bureau if they receive a subpoena, arguing that Congress would have to pay their legal fees if they are mandated to reveal what they know.

Grassley’s floor speech disagreed with the agents’ assumption that a subpoena would better protect them from agency retaliation than the Whistleblower law that he spearheaded, saying, “I’ve worked hard to strengthen legal protections, especially for FBI employees. You have a right to cooperate with Congressional inquiries, just as you have a right to cooperate with the Inspector General. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying.” (Read more from “One Republican Senator Is Coming To The Aid Of DOJ Whistleblowers” HERE)

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The House Intelligence Committee on Monday evening voted to make public a GOP-crafted memo alleging what some Republicans say are “shocking” surveillance abuses at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

At the same time, the committee voted against making public a Democrat-drafted countermemo.

While the panel voted to release that memo to the entire House, Republicans expressed concern that publicly releasing the minority memo would damage sensitive intelligence sources and methods, according to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the committee’s ranking member . . .

The move ends weeks of speculation over whether the memo, which was drafted by staff for Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), would be made public. But it intensifies the dispute over what Democrats say is an all-out assault by Republicans to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Stone-faced committee Democrats appeared in a phalanx after the vote, decrying what Schiff described as the crossing of “a deeply regrettable line in this committee, where for the first time in the 10 years I’ve been on the committee, there was a vote to politicize the declassification process of intelligence.” (Read more from “House Votes to Release DOJ Surveillance Memo” HERE)

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By Sarah Jorgensen and Laura Jarrett. Email correspondence, flight manifests, hotel bills, credit card statements and Federal Election Commission filings will all be deployed as evidence of an alleged bribery scheme carried out for seven years by Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez and an associate, according to a new brief filed by prosecutors in federal court Wednesday.

The outline of the Justice Department’s case came one week before the trial against Menendez and his co-defendant, Florida-based ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, begins on September 6 in federal court in Newark, New Jersey. Menendez and Melgen have been charged with 18 counts of fraud and bribery crimes. Both have entered a plea of not guilty.

Menendez and Melgen are accused of having a “quid pro quo” relationship going as far back as 2006. Prosecutors say that in exchange for luxurious vacations and large donations to his campaign coffers, Menendez used his power to advocate for various personal and business interests of Melgen’s within the government.

Jurors will also hear from many different witnesses, including Menendez staffers, State Department officials and even pilots who flew the private jet Menendez allegedly flew on as a part of his lavish, Melgen-sponsored vacations. Prosecutors further signaled that they plan to introduce charts to summarize documents for the jury, writing that this will be the most efficient way to communicate the 20,000 pages of admissible evidence to the jury. (Read more from “DOJ Details Case Against U.S. Senator Who Allegedly Took Bribes, Trafficked in Child Prostitution” HERE)

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Department of Justice: ‘Corroborating Evidence’ Backs Underage Prostitution Allegations Against Senator Bob Menendez

By Matthew Boyle. The entire mainstream media bought repeated denials from Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) of allegations that he solicited underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic, but now the Department of Justice says the allegations are in fact “corroborated.”

In a 65-page court filing released publicly on Monday evening, the DOJ laid out how their investigation into Menendez—and Democratic Party mega-donor Dr. Salomon Melgen—“began with serious and specific allegations involving child prostitution.” . . .

Later in the document, the DOJ lays out how even though the allegations of child prostitution against Menendez and Melgen have not resulted in criminal charges, such allegations have been “corroborated.” (Read more from “Department of Justice: ‘Corroborating Evidence’ Backs Underage Prostitution Allegations Against Senator Bob Menendez” HERE)

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