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FBI Lacks White House Approval to Talk to Kavanaugh and Ford

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By Bloomberg. The FBI hasn’t interviewed Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh or Christine Blasey Ford because it doesn’t have clear authority from the White House to do so, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Instead, the White House has indicated to the FBI that testimony from Kavanaugh and Ford, who has accused him of attempting to rape her when they were in high school, before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week is sufficient, said the people, who asked to not be identified discussing the sensitive matter.

On Wednesday night, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell started the clock for a Friday test vote on the nomination. McConnell said that the Senate “would receive the results” of the FBI’s inquiry into the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh on Wednesday night.

A tentative plan for viewing the report is that a single copy will be available in a secure room for senators to view starting Thursday morning, at one-hour intervals alternating between Republicans and Democrats, according to a person briefed on the matter. . .

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation was trying to force the issue and seek explicit approval from the White House to interview Ford and Kavanaugh. And it wasn’t clear why the FBI hasn’t yet talked to other people who have been recommended by lawyers or who have voluntarily come forward — or if the bureau would need explicit approval to talk with them as well. (Read more from “FBI Lacks White House Approval to Talk to Kavanaugh and Ford” HERE)

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White House Says FBI Report Supports Kavanaugh Confirmation

By Washington Post. The White House said early Thursday morning that it had received the FBI’s completed report on Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh and that it was “fully confident” that the Senate would vote to confirm President Trump’s nominee to the nation’s top court.

Raj Shah, deputy White House press secretary, said the report, which Democrats have denounced as hasty and incomplete, marked “the last addition to the most comprehensive review of a Supreme Court nominee in history, which includes extensive hearings, multiple committee interviews, over 1,200 questions for the record and over a half million pages of documents.”

In three tweets, the first published at 2:24 a.m. Thursday, Shah said lawmakers will have had “ample time” to review the results of the latest probe by the time they vote on Friday, according to a schedule set into motion Wednesday by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Senators will be able to review the report at a secure facility at the Capitol beginning Thursday.

(Read more from “White House Says FBI Report Supports Kavanaugh Confirmation” HERE)

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Kavanaugh Critics: FBI Needs to Investigate What ‘Boofing’ Means

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With the unsubstantiated allegations against Brett Kavanaugh continuing to pile up, some of his critics have zeroed in on a new gotcha on the SCOTUS nominee: the meaning of the words “boof” and “Devil’s Triangle” in his high school yearbook.

Even though the words “boof” and “Devil’s Triangle” may very well have had an entirely different meaning to a bunch of D.C. suburban teens in the early-’80s, Kavanaugh’s critics are promoting the narrative on social media that Kavanaugh lied under oath regarding the meaning of those terms. According to these critics, the “Devil’s Triangle” is not a drinking game, as Kavanaugh asserted during his testimony, but rather sex acts involving two guys and one girl; “Boof” refers to, well, something very NC-17; “Renate Alumnus” really was code for “I tapped that.”

Setting aside the problematic notion of combing through a high school yearbook and decoding inside jokes, for Kavanaugh to openly brag about it suggests a personality that was not only flippant but gleefully pernicious. Remember, many of those spreading this theory are the same people who have readily accepted that Kavanaugh was running a “gang rape” ring at age 15.

Politico is lending their weight to promoting the theory. In a piece published by Politico, Brian Fallon and Chris Kang, co-founders of a progressive group opposing Kavanaugh’s nomination, call for the FBI to fully probe the meaning of a 17-year-old teen’s reference to “boofing.”

The article, of course, neglects to mention the fact that over 60 women and several of Kavanaugh’s classmates have openly rejected the portrait that Ford and Ramirez have painted of him, both of whom have failed to identify a single witness that can corroborate their accounts. For his critics, their uncorroborated accounts are more truthful than Kavanaugh’s assertion that “boofing” referred to flatulence and “Devil’s Triangle” was a drinking game. (Read more from “Kavanaugh Critics: FBI Needs to Investigate What ‘Boofing’ Means” HERE)

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FBI: Murders, Violent Crimes Dipped in 2017

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By Washington Examiner. The number of murders and other violent crimes committed dipped slightly last year, according to new crime statistics released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday.

The number of cases of manslaughter and murder decreased 0.7 percent in 2017 from the previous year, the data show. And though rapes rose 3 percent and aggravated assault rose 1 percent, overall violent crimes dropped 0.2 percent — numbers that suggest the rise of crime in recent years is ending.

“Crime declined nationwide last year, consistent with our earlier analyses of 2017 data in the nation’s 30 largest cities,” Ames Grawert, senior counsel for the Justice Program at the Brennan Center for Justice in New York, said in a statement. “That’s the good news. The bad news is that even while crime is falling, the number of Americans incarcerated remains near-record highs. Now is the time to address the problem.” (Read more from “FBI: Murders, Violent Crimes Dipped in 2017” HERE)

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Detroit No Longer Nation’s Most Violent City, According to FBI Crime Stats

By Michigan Live. Detroit has made its way out of the top spot on the list of the nation’s most violent cities, according to the most recently released 2017 FBI crime data.

According to the statistics reported to the FBI by police agencies across the nation, St. Louis is now the most violent city, per capita, with more than 50,000 residents in the U.S. Flint ranked sixth, based on 2017 data.

Rounding out the top five are Baltimore, Memphis and Camden, New Jersey, respectively. (Read more from “Detroit No Longer Nation’s Most Violent City, According to FBI Crime Stats” HERE)

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Watch: CNN Interview Goes Bad as Ex-FBI Asst. Director Savages Ford Accusations

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A CNN interview on Wednesday with former FBI assistant director Chris Swecker didn’t work out quite the way the network was probably hoping after Swecker said the recent accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh would not hold up in court.

CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin asked Swecker a series of questions regarding the FBI’s involvement with the accusations of sexual assault made by California university professor Christine Blasey Ford against Kavanaugh. . .

Swecker confirmed during the CNN interview that the FBI won’t handle the case.

“The FBI has no independent jurisdiction to open up a stand-alone investigation of rape allegations or assault allegations that may have taken place 36 years ago,” Swecker said. “That’s a local crime. Unless it involves a federal official or on federal land, or has some federal nexus, there’s just no jurisdiction to do it.”

“There just can’t be any forensic evidence. I would be shocked if they brought a garment forward that might have DNA or something like that,” Swecker said.

Swecker went on to say that the evidence would be “strictly interviews” of the alleged victim, the alleged perpetrator, anyone else who might have been at the party, her therapist or anyone else she may have confided in about the incident. (Read more from “Watch: CNN Interview Goes Bad as Ex-FBI Asst. Director Savages Ford Accusations” HERE)

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Trump: Exposing FBI Could Be One of the ‘Crowning Achievements’ of Presidency

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President Donald Trump said that exposing the corruption behind the FBI Russia investigation will be one of the “crowning achievements” of his time in office.

In an interview with The Hill published on Tuesday, Trump also said that he regrets not firing former FBI Director James Comey immediately on his first day on the job, which had been his instinct while still a candidate after seeing how the bureau chief handled the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

The president accused the FBI of misleading the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court to obtain a search warrant in order to surveil Trump campaign adviser Carter Page during the 2016 campaign.

“They know this is one of the great scandals in the history of our country because basically what they did is, they used Carter Page, who nobody even knew, who I feel very badly for, I think he’s been treated very badly,” Trump said. “They used Carter Page as a foil in order to surveil a candidate for the presidency of the United States.”

Regarding the FISA judges, the president said, “It looks to me, just based on your reporting, that they have been misled. I mean, I don’t think we have to go much further than to say that they’ve been misled.”

He further expressed disappointment that the FISA judges apparently have not taken action, presumably based on what has been made public regarding the FBI’s use of the unsubstantiated so-called Trump Russia dossier to obtain the FISA warrant. The dossier was funded by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign.

Trump also addressed his decision that was announced on Monday to release the FISA application of Carter Page, as well as all the text messages concerning the Russia investigation, “without redaction,” from Comey, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former FBI agent Peter Strzok, former FBI attorney Lisa Page and FBI official Bruce Ohr.

The president said the texts, particularly between Strzok and Page, show that the Russia investigation is bogus.

On Monday morning, Trump tweeted about a Fox News report concerning Lisa Page’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee in July during which she stated the FBI had found no evidence of Russia collusion before May 2017, when special counsel Robert Mueller was named to take over the investigation.

“It’s a hoax, beyond a witch hunt,” Trump told The Hill.

He further suggested the “insurance policy” that Strzok texted Page about in August 2016 was the Russia investigation, which was launched during this time frame.

“What we have now is an insurance policy,” the president said. “But it has been totally discredited, even Democrats agree that it has been discredited. They are not going to admit to it, but it has been totally discredited. I think, frankly, more so by text than by documents.”

Trump argued that with the release of the FISA application, texts and other related documents, the public will now be able to see and decide for themselves if top officials within the Obama FBI and Department of Justice were engaged in wrongdoing when they used the apparatus of the federal government to surveil an opposing party candidate’s campaign.

“All I want to do is be transparent,” he said. “I hope to be able put this up as one of my crowning achievements that I was able to … expose something that is truly a cancer in our country.”

Regarding Comey, the president argued the former FBI director’s handling of the Clinton email investigation should have been all the information he needed not to keep Comey on as bureau head.

“If I did one mistake with Comey, I should have fired him before I got here. I should have fired him the day I won the primaries,” he said.

Trump added, “I should have fired him right after the convention, say I don’t want that guy. Or at least fired him the first day on the job. … I would have been better off firing him or putting out a statement that I don’t want him there when I get there.” (For more from the author of “Trump: Exposing FBI Could Be One of the ‘Crowning Achievements’ of Presidency” please click HERE)

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Dog the Bounty Hunter Joins Manhunt for Fugitive Who Threatened to Shoot President Trump

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Dog the Bounty Hunter says he will join the manhunt for FBI fugitive Shawn Christy, who has threatened to kill President Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, Duane Chapman, known to TV audiences as Dog the Bounty Hunter, told the Mansfield News Journal that he has been retained by a friend of the Christy family.

“I have a very hot lead,” Chapman said.

Shawn R. Christy, 26, is wanted by the FBI, the U.S. Marshals, and the U.S. Secret Service for “multiple offenses.” He is accused of threatening to shoot President Trump and is believed to be in the Mansfield, Ohio, area. The Journal reports that he should be considered armed and dangerous.

Chapman claims to be in contact with the fugitive. “I have delivered messages to him,” he said without further detail. “My goal is not to shoot him but get him to surrender.”

Chapman was already scheduled to travel to Mansfield, Ohio, on September 28 to give a talk about drug recovery. He told the Journal that this is not the first time he’s gone after one of America’s most wanted. “I was in Idaho last year and a guy shot a preacher in the back,” Chapman said. “It was the same town I was going to, too.”

“Miracles happen everyday in my life,” he added. “It’s a God thing.” (For more from the author of “Dog the Bounty Hunter Joins Manhunt for Fugitive Who Threatened to Shoot President Trump” please click HERE)

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We Need to Know If Intelligence Agencies Covered up the 1996 Crash of TWA 800

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While recently watching a documentary on the Smithsonian Channel about a 1987 plane crash in California purportedly caused by a deranged passenger, I realized a profound shift had occurred in my accepted wisdom, my “worldview.” During its investigation of the crash, the FBI allegedly found a vital piece of evidence at the scene, which led to them identifying a suspect behind the crash.

It dawned on me that I doubted the veracity of both the evidence the FBI supposedly found and of the documentary itself. Then I realized that my doubt was purely a result of everything we’ve learned about the FBI’s involvement in the greatest political crime in America’s history through its pivotal role to undermine Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, and in the blatant cover-up of Hillary Clinton’s crimes as secretary of state. It also brought home why President Trump needs to reopen the 1996 TWA Flight 800 plane crash investigation. . .

The FBI’s willingness to participate in such outrageous cover-ups and falsely predicated investigations, and ignore a mountain of evidence contradicting the official government line, should prompt President Trump to revisit what I believe is one of the other great cover-ups in American history, also involving the Clintons: the destruction of TWA Flight 800 on July 17, 1996.

It was destroyed off the coast of Long Island shortly after taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport bound for Paris, taking 230 souls with it. That scandal presaged what we saw 20 years later with the whitewash of the Hillary email server case and the counterintelligence operation against Trump’s campaign.

The seminal work about TWA 800 was written by a meticulous, indefatigable investigative reporter and documentarian, Jack Cashill. (Full disclosure: I have gotten to know and work with Jack, a fellow graduate of Regis High School in Manhattan, over the years, and consider him a friend.) (Read more from “We Need to Know If Intelligence Agencies Covered up the 1996 Crash of TWA 800” HERE)

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Lisa Page Bombshell: FBI Couldn’t Prove Trump-Russia Collusion Before Mueller Appointment

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By The Hill. To date, Lisa Page’s infamy has been driven mostly by the anti-Donald Trump text messages she exchanged with fellow FBI agent Peter Strzok as the two engaged in an affair while investigating the president for alleged election collusion with Russia.

Yet, when history judges the former FBI lawyer years from now, her most consequential pronouncement may not have been typed on her bureau-issued Samsung smartphone to her colleague and lover.

Rather, it might be eight simple words she uttered behind closed doors during a congressional interview a few weeks ago.

“It’s a reflection of us still not knowing,” Page told Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) when questioned about texts she and Strzok exchanged in May 2017 as Robert Mueller was being named a special prosecutor to take over the Russia investigation.

With that statement, Page acknowledged a momentous fact: After nine months of using some of the most awesome surveillance powers afforded to U.S. intelligence, the FBI still had not made a case connecting Trump or his campaign to Russia’s election meddling. (Read more from “Lisa Page Bombshell: Fbi Couldn’t Prove Trump-Russia Collusion Before Mueller Appointment” HERE)

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Paul Manafort Could Flip on a Big Fish — but That Might Not Be Trump

By NBC News. Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, pleaded guilty to two counts in his new Washington criminal case, and admitted guilt in the 10 counts outstanding from his earlier trial in federal court in Virginia. The shocking part is this: He agreed last week to cooperate with federal prosecutors. A more accurate statement would be that federal prosecutors have agreed to “cooperate” him. As with most cooperation agreements, Manafort will have to “come clean” and be completely forthcoming with documents and information, and voluntarily testify in court.

If Manafort gives the government substantial assistance, the sentencing benefits are significant. The government will file a motion for a “downward departure” from the sentencing guidelines for cooperation, and for an additional reduction (up to three “levels”) for “acceptance of responsibility.” These alone can reduce the sentence by decades.

Many are suggesting Trump should be worried about this situation, because Manafort very likely could have impressed special counsel Robert Mueller with what he knows about Trump. It’s also been suggested that Manafort has ended up in the worst situation by waiting so long to cooperate. (Read more from “Paul Manafort Could Flip on a Big Fish — but That Might Not Be Trump” HERE)

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Collusion: New Texts Show FBI Officials Had Media Leak Strategy to Hurt Trump During Russia Probe

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Well, well, well—what do we have here; FBI officials discussing a media leak strategy during the Trump-Russia investigation, specifically when key developments are about to be revealed to the public. The new batch of texts was released by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), where disgraced former FBI Agent Peter Strzok and lawyer Lisa Page communicate about a possible media leak strategy between FBI and DOJ officials between April 10 and 12 of 2017. The Daily Caller has more:

“Our review of these new documents raises grave concerns regarding an apparent systemic culture of media leaking by high-ranking officials at the FBI and DOJ related to ongoing investigations,” Meadows wrote to U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in the letter, which was obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation and first reported by Sara Carter. . .

In the first message, Strzok, who then served as deputy chief of the FBI’s counterintelligence division, wrote to Page that: “I had literally just gone to find this phone to tell you I want to talk to you about media leak strategy with DOJ before you go.”

Strzok was at that time the lead investigator on the FBI’s probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government. He joined the special counsel’s investigation after it was formed in May 2017. He was removed from the investigation in July 2017 after the discovery of anti-Trump text messages that he exchanged with Lisa Page. He was fired from the FBI on Aug. 10.

In one Aug. 8, 2016, message, Strzok told Page that President Donald Trump would never become president, because “We’ll stop it.”

(Read more from “Collusion: New Texts Show FBI Officials Had Media Leak Strategy to Hurt Trump During Russia Probe” HERE)

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FBI Officials Refuse to Reveal If They Met With Inspector General Over Clinton Server

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The FBI refuses to disclose whether or not it met with senior members of the Intelligence Community Inspector General on the subject of foreign intrusion of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s private server.

An FBI spokeswoman refused to confirm if Intelligence Community Inspector General officials — including Frank Rucker, its chief investigator — briefed top bureau officials about evidence of penetration of Clinton’s private server by a Chinese government intelligence operation. “We have no comment,” she told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

Earlier Wednesday, an FBI spokesman released what appeared to be a categorical statement about the Clinton server: “The FBI has not found any evidence the servers were compromised,” the FBI stated.

The statement does not refute anything so far reported by TheDCNF, which has confirmed that the ICIG briefed top bureau officials on three separate occasions to warn the FBI of an “anomaly” they found in 30,000 inbound and outgoing emails. The report is based on an intelligence official with direct knowledge of the matter. The anomaly showed a code embedded in Clinton’s server was producing in real time a “courtesy copy” to a third party.

The third party was a Chinese state-owned company based in Northern Virginia just outside of Washington, D.C., and was part of an ongoing Chinese government intelligence operation, according to two separate sources with direct knowledge of the matter. (Read more from “FBI Officials Refuse to Reveal If They Met With Inspector General Over Clinton Server” HERE)

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