October 30, 2016


News and Views


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-clinton-jew_us_58154356e4b064e1b4b2fc2b

Trump Attacks Clinton As Supporter Chants ‘Jew S. A.’
A man near the press area at Trump’s Phoenix rally shouted “Jew S.A.” instead of USA.
Steve Holland
10/29/2016 08:58 pm ET

Photograph -- CHIP SOMODEVILLA VIA GETTY IMAGES

PHOENIX, Oct 29 - Sensing a potential turning point, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump mounted a furious effort on Saturday to portray Democrat Hillary Clinton as unfit to lead the country after the latest chapter in her email controversy unfolded as he tries to mount a comeback.

With the Nov. 8 election only 10 days away, Trump devoted much of his stump speech to try to take the maximum advantage of the FBI’s disclosure that it is investigating more emails as part of a probe into Clinton’s use of a private email server.

Little is known about the extent and focus of the new FBI review. But Trump was quick to declare his rival “guilty” at rallies in Phoenix and in Golden, Colorado, declaring that she is symbolic of a type of public corruption that is a “grave threat to our democracy.”

Trump charged that the Justice Department, populated by appointees of Democratic President Barack Obama, is trying to help Clinton, given news reports that top department officials did not want FBI Director James Comey to reveal his new review.

“When the outcome is fixed, when the system is rigged, people lose hope. They stop dreaming. They stop trying,” Trump said in Phoenix. “Hillary Clinton’s corruption is corrosive to the soul of our nation and it must be stopped.”

Clinton herself has repeatedly attacked Trump as not fit to be president.

The new uproar could not have come at a more opportune time for Trump, who has been reeling for weeks from the release of a 2005 audio tape in which he boasted about groping women and the emergence of a host of women who said he did just that to them.

Trump has narrowed the gap in public opinion polls between him and Clinton nationally and in some battleground states where the election is likely to be decided. But most analyzes of the polls show him facing a defeat, perhaps a landslide, if the election were to be held today.

That made it essential for Trump to try to change the subject from his own setbacks and focus on those of Clinton, and give establishment Republicans who have been reluctant to support him a reason to get behind him, and perhaps sway some undecided voters as well.

Still, the Phoenix rally provided a reminder why some Republicans cannot bring themselves to support Trump, as a man there taunted reporters with a chant of “Jew S. A.” when the rest of the crowd was chanting “USA.”

monkees1 ‏@monkees1 4h4 hours ago
@hollybdc Were my ears deceiving me or did Trump say "Haven't we had enough drama with the Jews?"
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Ashley Killough ✔ @KilloughCNN
So this just happened near the press pen at Trump's Phoenix rally. Man chanting "Jew.S.A.!"
7:58 PM - 29 Oct 2016
1,152 1,152 Retweets 722 722 likes

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Holly Bailey ✔ @hollybdc
Guy shouting "Jew-S-A" at the media covering the Trump rally in PHX
7:43 PM - 29 Oct 2016
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Candace Smith ✔ @CandaceSmith_
This is the man who started chanting "JEW-S-A" at the media pen. Does anyone know what those hands signs mean?
7:42 PM - 29 Oct 2016 · Phoenix, AZ, United States
1,029 1,029 Retweets 627 627 likes

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Nick Corasaniti ✔ @NYTnickc
Guy chants "Jew-S-A" in front of press pen
7:35 PM - 29 Oct 2016
3,067 3,067 Retweets 1,870 1,870 likes

Trump’s next couple of days on the campaign trail reflect a change in strategy with uncertain rewards. He is to campaign in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Sunday and in Michigan on Monday, two states that have voted Democratic in recent presidential elections and appeared poised to do so again.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Mary Milliken and Leslie Adler)

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.

Also on HuffPost -- ABCs of Trump


ON THOSE HAND SIGNS, GO TO BOTH WEBSITES GIVEN BELOW FOR POSSIBLE ANTI-SEMITIC HAND SIGNS. COMMENTARY ON SUCH THINGS IS VERY INTERESTING, AND TOTALLY NEW TO ME.

I listened closely three or four times and, though it was a little indistinct, I definitely heard Trump saying “enough drama with the Jews.”


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quenelle_(gesture)

“The quenelle (French pronunciation: [kə.nɛl]) is a gesture created and popularized by French political activist and comedian Dieudonné. He first used it in 2005 in his sketch entitled "1905" about French secularism, and has used it since in a wide variety of contexts.[1] . . . . In late 2013, following its use by professional footballer Nicolas Anelka during a match, Jewish leaders, anti-racism groups, and public officials in France have interpreted it as an inverted Nazi salute and as an expression of antisemitism.[2] French officials have sought to ban the gesture due to its perceived subtext of antisemitism.[4] . . .

Performance[edit] -- The quenelle gesture is usually performed by pointing one arm diagonally downwards palm down, while touching the shoulder with the opposite hand. Although the quenelle is usually done with the hand at shoulder level, it can also be done with different variations (e.g. elbow or wrist level).”

[NOTE: ABOUT HAND SIGNS -- This quenelle gesture from Wikipedia does not look at all like the gestures that the Trump follower was doing. His looked more like “gang signs” that I’ve see street kids doing. The jasoncolavito blog below was very much like what I saw on the video, and it explains the meaning. I suggest you read the blog for more information and look at the video. One of the vids of the man was unclear to me, but the other one is much better. Though he moved his hands pretty rapidly, I could see that it’s a hand with middle two fingers closely held together while the outer two fingers are spread apart.

It looks a lot like the old “cuckold” or “devil” sign done by holding the “horned” hand behind someone’s head. It’s a form of rowdy childish teasing. Everybody gets a chuckle out of it, with no hard feelings.

Of course, if this is a derogatory sign indicating a Jewish person, that is not innocent or funny to me, and shouldn’t pop up at a presidential candidate’s campaign speech. In Trump’s case, he really “draws the wrong kind of crowd” in general. It’s just one more reason for me to dislike Trump all the more. Intolerant speech or signals of that sort are danger signs as to the nature of Trump’s rhetoric and the atmosphere which he cultivates.



“http://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/anti-semitic-conspiracies-and-the-mary-magdalene-hand-gesture”

“As you know, there is a cottage industry of people who think that a hand gesture featuring the middle and ring fingers pressed together between outspread index and pinky fingers is a secret symbol. Before Scott Wolter made it into a symbol of Mary Magdalene, it had previously been claimed as a secret symbol of Freemasonry (M for Mason), Satanism (multiple V’s and I’s for 666), and the Marranos, or crypto-Jews of Spain (M for Marrano). The supposed symbol is popular with anti-Semitic extremists who see it as a sign of “Judaizing” within Christianity. You can find references to it on New World Order conspiracy sites and anti-Semitic webpages. . . . .

Consider this piece, written before the premiere of America Unearthed, by a conspiracy theorist who sees the symbol as an occult recognition of the Jews’ role in bringing about the New World Order:

[Televangelist Paula White] has force-aligned her 3rd & 4th fingers on BOTH hands to STAY parallel to each other. This forms the “M” sign & is not easy to do. You have to consciously force your fingers to do it, & then to have your brain telling your fingers on BOTH hands to do it at the SAME time & then to KEEP them that way for any length of time is even harder. Maybe that’s why she appears to be straining & grunting! […] One thing’s for certain, Paula White is a Judaizer Supreme, heavily promotes the anti-Pauline-Epistles “Judaized-version” of Christianity. As the apostle Paul said, ANY OTHER GOSPEL, let those who preach it be accursed! (Galatians 1:8-9). [emphasis in original]”



PENTAGON BONUSES

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pentagon-scrambles-as-veterans-say-bonus-repayment-is-an-insult-to-service/

Pentagon scrambles as veterans say bonus repayment is an insult to service
By CARTER EVANS CBS NEWS
October 29, 2016, 7:44 PM

Play VIDEO -- Defense Secretary halts National Guard bonus clawbacks
Photograph -- carter-evans-national-guard-2-2016-10-29.jpg
The Pentagon temporarily suspended demands for nearly 10,000 California National Guard soldiers to repay enlistment bonuses, and other incentives they were given to go to war. CBS NEWS
carter-evans-national-guard-3-2016-10-29.jpg
Photograph -- Angry veterans gave an earful to members of California’s congressional delegation a a news conference intended to address outrage about the thousands of California National Guard members being forced to pay-back their enlistment bonuses. CBS NEWS
Video – Play CBS News Video, very loud and vocal complaints by veterans


The Pentagon did an about-face this past week, temporarily suspending demands for nearly 10,000 California National Guard soldiers to repay enlistment bonuses, and other incentives they were given to go to war.

Officials said those payments were improperly rewarded back the Pentagon was scrambling to fill its ranks.

“It’s an insult to my service!” said Joe Leal, who served in the Iraq War.

Angry veterans gave an earful to members of California’s congressional delegation at a news conference intended to address outrage about the thousands of California National Guard members being forced to pay-back their enlistment bonuses.

“Out of those veterans that they took their money from them -- now we wonder why veterans are homeless, now we wonder why they’re unemployed, now we wonder why they don’t trust the system. Because of decisions like this!” Leal said.

“No other topic has come up more among my constituents the last week,” said U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat from the Los Angeles area.

Schiff is encouraged by the Pentagon’s move this week to suspend efforts to claw-back the bonuses of at least $15,000 a piece, but he’s concerned about the government’s plan to go through each case, one by one.

“I don’t want them to have to sit around and wonder whether the bill collector is going to come after them,” Schiff said. “I want those soldiers to know if they accepted this bonus in good faith and had no reason to know it wasn’t authorized, they have nothing to worry about.”

He says he’s going to push Congress to add a provision in the defense bill that will protect soldiers from collection.

Schiff says it’s something he “absolutely” will fight for in Washington. “I know there is bipartisan support for that,” he said.

But California Army National Guard Platoon Sergeant Bryan Strother says Congress already had plenty of time to act.

“We can bail out the banks, but we can’t bail out the veterans that fight and die for this country?” Strother says.

Despite action from Washington this week, Strother still moving forward with a class action lawsuit, claiming the Guard misled soldiers.

“Do you want your soldiers to trust you?” Strother says. “You’re going to take us into battle. Do you want anybody that’s gonna sign up with the military to say ‘yeah, i’ll sign that contract.’ The contract’s not as good as the paper that it’s written on.”

The national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars doesn’t even want to wait for Congress to act. He is now calling on President Obama to issue an executive order to stop the clawbacks immediately and to repay any money collected. He wants that money paid back--with interest.



I’m so proud of those veterans for standing up to power so vigorously. That’s the way American citizens should be. If we stay as docile as we tend to be we will lose our democracy/republic by default. I don’t believe in fighting all the time, but there are times when it really needs to be done.



AGGRESSIVE POLL WATCHERS?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/11/donald-trump-warns-that-other-communities-are-poised-to-steal-the-election/

The Fix
Donald Trump warns that ‘other communities’ are poised to steal the election
By Philip Bump
October 11, 2016

Video clip – (Baby-kissing) Donald Trump in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (Video clip)
Play Video2:03 -- At a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Oct. 10, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump read unscientific online surveys off a cellphone during his speech to show that he is ahead of his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. (The Washington Post)
Photograph -- The Pentagon temporarily suspended demands for nearly 10,000 California National Guard soldiers to repay enlistment bonuses, and other incentives they were given to go to war. CBS NEWS


Donald Trump said at least two untrue things in Pennsylvania on Monday. The first was that he would bring back steel manufacturing. The second was that the election was at risk of being stolen by people in “other communities” — specifically, Philadelphia. Trump was making the same claim, really, through two lenses: Everything and everyone is working against him and his supporters.

His comments about alleged wide-scale voter fraud on Monday — comments which, we cannot emphasize frequently enough, are not supported by any evidence — were direct in their implications. In the past, he's said that “certain sections” of the state might commit fraud to swing the results, an obvious reference to long-simmering (and long-debunked) rumors about voter fraud in Philadelphia. On Monday, he simply said it.

“So important that you get out and vote. So important that you watch other communities, because we don't want this election stolen from us,” Trump said in Ambridge, Pa., northwest of Pittsburgh. “We don't want this election stolen from us. We do not want this election stolen.”

Later, he spoke from Wilkes-Barre. CBS's Sopan Deb transcribed:

Honestly, folks, you know I went to school in Philadelphia and I love Philadelphia. I love Philadelphia and I hope we're going to do great in Philadelphia. I went to school there. I love the school. I loved everything but I just hear such reports about Philadelphia. And we have to make sure we're protected. We have to make sure the people of Philadelphia are protected that the vote counts are 100 percent. Everybody wants that, but I hear these horror shows. I hear these horror shows and we have to make sure that this election is not stolen from us and is not taken away from us. And everybody knows what I'm talking about.

If anybody doesn't know what he's talking about, we wrote about it when Trump first raised the subject in August. Four years ago, a number of precincts around Philadelphia recorded no votes for Mitt Romney. The places where that happened were, in the words of the Philadelphia Inquirer “clustered in almost exclusively black sections of West and North Philadelphia" — places where most of the residents were members of one of President Obama's most loyal voting constituencies. (Nonwhite voters in Pennsylvania prefer Hillary Clinton by 56 points in a recent poll from Franklin & Marshall College.)

“Other communities” is probably not an intentional phrase from Trump, but it's a loaded one. Those other people. Ambridge and Wilkes-Barre are both three-quarters white. Most of the crowd at both rallies was also white. It was the other communities where there was a problem. Communities that happen to be mostly black. Those communities are going to steal the election from “us.”

A Republican inspector of elections in Philadelphia debunked Sean Hannity on the subject of voter fraud in the city when the Fox News personality raised it earlier this year. Ryan Godfrey pointed out that the Inquirer looked for people in the areas who'd voted for Romney, without luck. Demonstrated in-person voter fraud is so rare as to be a rounding error, both nationally and in Pennsylvania. In a response to a lawsuit submitted when a Republican was governor, the state admitted that voter fraud was nonexistent.

Trump should and could know this, if he cared to. It doesn't serve his interests to believe that voter fraud is a non-issue, and it's very possible he sincerely believes that fraud in Philly will cost him the state. What is likely to actually cost him the race in Pennsylvania is that he's losing badly thanks to slipping support. Multiple recent polls show Trump trailing by double digits in the state. He shouldn't feel too bad; Pennsylvania has voted Democratic since 1992.

Trump should certainly know that the steel industry isn't coming back and wasn't a victim of the policies of Obama. The steel industry in the Rust Belt was gutted in the 1970s and 1980s, with the workforce being cut in half between 1975 and 1988. Earlier this month, an essay in the New York Times explored how the economy of Pennsylvania has evolved in the decades since, expanding service sector jobs and work in technology. The jobs aren't often as high-paying and secure as steel jobs once were, but the economy has changed — as has steel production. Trump himself reportedly uses Chinese-made steel in his construction projects.

Nonetheless: “We're going to bring back the jobs to Pennsylvania,” Trump said in Ambridge. “We're going to bring back steel. Your steel has been stolen from you in this area.”

Just like the election, right?

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Philip Bump writes about politics for The Fix. He is based in New York City. Follow @pbump



EXCERPT – “It was the other communities where there was a problem. Communities that happen to be mostly black. Those communities are going to steal the election from “us.” . . . . Demonstrated in-person voter fraud is so rare as to be a rounding error, both nationally and in Pennsylvania. In a response to a lawsuit submitted when a Republican was governor, the state admitted that voter fraud was nonexistent. . . . . Multiple recent polls show Trump trailing by double digits in the state. He shouldn't feel too bad; Pennsylvania has voted Democratic since 1992. . . . . Earlier this month, an essay in the New York Times explored how the economy of Pennsylvania has evolved in the decades since, expanding service sector jobs and work in technology. The jobs aren't often as high-paying and secure as steel jobs once were, but the economy has changed — as has steel production. Trump himself reportedly uses Chinese-made steel in his construction projects.”


Romney got into serious trouble with those of us who are not in the 99% group a few years ago when he foolishly said on camera that he doesn’t try to appeal to the poor because they (we) won’t vote for him anyway. Well there are reasons for that, and they are obvious. It’s not cheating of any kind. It’s pure distaste for what he stands for, and in my case, what he looks like. Smugness and an attitude of superiority do turn me off very quickly.



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http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/29/politics/hillary-clinton-campaign-james-comey/index.html

Clinton campaign wages new war against James Comey
MJ LeeDan Merica-Profile-Image
By MJ Lee and Dan Merica, CNN
Updated 9:11 AM ET, Sun October 30, 2016

(CNN)Hillary Clinton on Saturday questioned FBI Director James Comey's decision to write to congressional leaders about emails uncovered in the bureau's probe into Anthony Weiner, saying the timing of such a move was "unprecedented" and "deeply troubling."

"It's pretty strange to put something like that out with such little information right before an election," Clinton told supporters in Daytona Beach, Florida, where the crowd booed at the mention of Comey's letter. "In fact, it's not just strange, it's unprecedented and it's deeply troubling because voters deserve to get full and complete facts."

Clinton called on Comey to swiftly release more information, saying he must "explain everything right away, put it all right on the table."

Clinton also swiped at Republican rival Donald Trump, saying he's "doing his best to confuse, mislead and discourage the American people" over the issue.

"Of course, Donald Trump is already making up lies about this," Clinton said.

The Democratic nominee's comments here marked an escalation in the Clinton campaign's full-out war against Comey in the final 10 days of the election.

Earlier in the day, just hours after Comey made the stunning announcement on Friday that the FBI is examining newly unveiled emails that appear to be "pertinent" to the now-closed investigation into Clinton's private server, top campaign officials unleashed a blistering attack on the FBI director, accusing him of being irresponsibly "light on facts" and "heavy on innuendo."

On a conference call with reporters, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta accused Comey of failing to be "forthcoming with the facts." Podesta blasted both the timing and contents of the letter Comey sent to congressional leaders on Friday, summing the director's actions as "providing selective information."

Campaign manager Robby Mook echoed Podesta's call for more information from Comey and suggested that the FBI has now waded into political territory.

"The Justice Department's longstanding practice is: Don't do anything seen as trying to influence an election," Mook said. "It's completely unfair to Secretary Clinton and it's really unfair to the voters."

'Hillary's not going to be distracted'

The sharp criticism marked an extraordinary rebuke of the head of an agency historically known for its political independence. And it guarantees that Comey -- already a polarizing presence for his role in probing Clinton's email use as secretary of state -- will be a central political figure in the election's final days.

As Clinton prepared to fly to Florida for a two-day swing through the battleground state, Podesta was defiant: "We're not going to be distracted and Hillary's not going to be distracted in the final days of this election over nothing."

Both Podesta and Mook emphasized the possibility that the emails that the FBI is now examining -- uncovered as part of the bureau's investigation into Clinton aide Huma Abedin's estranged husband, Anthony Weiner -- may not reveal new information.

"Reports indicate that many of these emails are likely to be duplicates," Podesta said. "It's in fact entirely possible all the emails in question are just that -- duplicates."

Donald Trump continued to trumpet the news at a campaign stop in Golden, Colorado, Saturday afternoon, wondering if Clinton would keep Abedin as an adviser.

"Huma's been a problem," Trump said. "I wonder if Huma's going to stay there. I hope they haven't given Huma immunity because it seemed that everybody that walked down the sidewalk got immunity. She knows the real story. She knows what's going on."

Abedin, one of Clinton's closest confidantes, regularly travels with Clinton and was with the candidate on Friday when the FBI news broke. However, Abedin was notably absent on Saturday as Clinton traveled to Florida.

Comey was sworn in as FBI director in 2013 for a 10-year term. That means if Clinton were to win in November, Comey would serve under her administration unless she chose to remove him.

A Clinton aide later said Saturday that Clinton took the FBI news "like a champ." The aide added that Clinton and her top aides were well aware that the last two weeks of the campaign would not be entirely smooth and that Clinton's reaction reflected that.

"She is in a good state of mind," the aide added.

Sudden turn

The new attacks on Comey are a sudden turn for Clinton's campaign, which sang the FBI director's praises for his initial findings in the Clinton email case.

Clinton aides, in conversations with reporters and in statements, highlighted the fact that Comey was a Republican known for his fierce independence, touting him -- and his investigators -- as career professionals. Surrogates were told to highlight Comey's testimony to Congress and note his political affiliation and track record.

In an interview on CNN's "Situation Room" in July, Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon went after Republicans for criticizing Comey after the FBI concluded it would not press criminal charges against Clinton.

"It seems they were disappointed with the outcome of the FBI investigation so they decided to put the director in a hot seat and second-guess his decision," Fallon said at the time. "I think it is a bad look for House Republicans to be second-guessing a career prosecutor who is a registered Republican, No. 2 official at the Justice Department under George Bush and was even deputy council on the committee investigating the Clintons in the 1990s."

On Sunday, Fallon said the issues that the Clinton campaign is now raising are different from attempts by Republicans to smear the bureau as "corrupt" and "engaging in a nonexistent conspiracy."

"We are taking issue with a decision to publicly surface FBI activities on the eve of an election, which is an undisputed violation of protocol that both the current Attorney General and Republicans like George Terwilliger have acknowledged," Fallon said.

Nevertheless, the Clinton campaign now finds itself voicing similar concerns as some Republicans when it comes to the FBI's handling of emails uncovered in its Weiner investigation.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, an outspoken Trump supporter, wrote on Twitter Saturday: "If there are really more than 10,000 emails in the weiner-Abedin computer the FBI should release all Monday. Americans have a right to know," he wrote.

Gingrich added: "We should not be forced to vote with ten thousand or more emails still hidden by the FBI. John Podesta and Hillary Clinton are right."

CNN's Ashley Killough contributed to this report.



In my view the Republicans are just “stringing the public along” with all these little drips of information on a daily basis. Of course, that’s the rules of their game; and this is very much a game. I’ve already voted for Hillary, so I’m going to be a spectator from now on. All I need’s some popcorn and a Coca-cola. I always watch election night like some people watch Trump’s old beauty pageants. Wouldn’t miss it. Personally, I have high hopes for Hillary. After the election, assuming she does win, I will then move on to the Bernie Sanders Our Revolution group for my loyalty and activities.

It will be good to actually like and trust whomever I feel constrained to vote into office. If it hadn’t been for “the Drumpf” waiting outside the city gates, troll-like and always hungry, to devour all of us innocent folk who have to venture outside, I would have voted for Sanders this time. Sanders is such an improvement over Hillary in my view, but sometimes you “gotta do what ya gotta do!” I would have voted for Sanders without any question and left Hillary to her own devices, if Trump didn’t show so many signs of true mental aberration.


THIS MAY BE THE MOST INFORMATIVE ARTICLE IN THE BLOG TODAY, ESPECIALLY IN THE MATTER OF HOW THE FBI SHOULD DO ITS’ JOB, AND WHAT IS BANNED UNDER THE CONSTITUTION. I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT. GOODNIGHT FOR NOW!


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-conversation-us/in-getting-new-clinton-em_b_12713842.html

In Getting ‘New’ Clinton Emails, Did The FBI Violate The Constitution?
By Clark D. Cunningham, Georgia State University
Photograph -- ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES
10/30/2016 08:48 am ET | Updated 2 hours ago

The Conversation US
Independent source of news and analysis, from the academic and research community.


Photograph -- Under FBI investigation: Anthony Weiner. U.S. Congress
Photograph -- Not aware of her husband’s alleged sexting: Huma Abedin. U.S. Department of State
Photograph -- Dropping a bombshell: FBI Director James Comey.
FBI
Photograph -- Time to act: Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
U.S. Department of Justice


FBI Director James Comey’s Oct. 28 bombshell letter to Congress - which has the potential to affect the presidential election - may be based on illegally obtained emails.

In his letter, Comey says the FBI “has learned” of the existence of emails “that may be pertinent” to the closed investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email server during her tenure as secretary of state. He writes that although “the FBI cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant,” he has directed investigators “to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information.” As the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, Attorney General Loretta Lynch has the apolitical and urgent responsibility to determine whether these emails were obtained in a manner consistent with the Constitution.

We don’t know everything yet, but we know a fair amount already about these emails and how the FBI got them. Comey tells Congress that the FBI “learned” of the emails’ existence “in connection with an unrelated case.” Multiple media sources are now reporting that they were found during the FBI’s investigation of allegations that former Congressman Anthony Weiner sent sexual text messages to a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina.

The FBI apparently seized a laptop from Weiner on which more than 1,000 emails belonging to his estranged wife, Huma Abedin, had been backed up. Abedin, who is currently vice chairman of the Clinton presidential campaign, had served as deputy chief of staff to Clinton when she was secretary of state.

If the laptop was “seized“ by the FBI, it’s unlikely that either Weiner or Abedin voluntarily turned over the emails. That means the agency needed to get a search warrant, by swearing to a judge there was probable cause to believe that data on the laptop contained evidence of the suspected “sexting” crime. Under the Constitution, the warrant should have specified exactly the information to be seized and searched, and thereby limited the FBI from looking through the entire contents of the laptop.

As a constitutional scholar, I have studied the FBI’s troubling history of deliberately abusing search warrant powers to go on unconstitutional fishing expeditions through Americans’ email. It seems likely that happened again here.

Was the search properly limited?

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution states that no search warrant can be issued unless it “particularly describes the place to be searched and the things to be seized.” Did the warrant for Weiner’s laptop “particularly describe” emails sent to or received by Abedin while working at the State Department as material that could be seized as evidence of the alleged sexting crime? That seems highly unlikely.

Indeed, why were federal agents looking at any emails belonging to the suspect’s estranged spouse? Surely the FBI didn’t think Abedin was involved in the alleged sexting crime.

The agents might make the implausible claim that they saw Abedin’s emails inadvertently when looking for evidence related to the sexting crime. But even then, the legal approach would have required seeking Abedin’s consent to review the emails. If she declined, the FBI could have sought a new search warrant for specific Abedin messages, swearing to a federal judge that there was probable cause those particular emails were evidence of a crime, presumably related to the State Department email investigation.

So far there are no reports that the FBI did either of these things. To the contrary, Comey’s own letter says the FBI has no idea if the emails are even “significant.” So how could the FBI get a search warrant to review them?

A regular pattern of FBI abuse

It may seem extreme to suspect that federal agents sworn to uphold the Constitution would deliberately violate it to go on an unauthorized fishing expedition through Weiner’s laptop. However, there is clear evidence that the FBI regularly and deliberately oversteps constitutional boundaries with regard to Americans’ email messages.

In one case now pending in New Jersey, the FBI went completely beyond the limits of a search warrant to download the entire contents of a lawyer’s cellphone. Incredibly, federal prosecutors in that case are telling a federal judge they can legally keep and use the downloaded data even if the judge rules it was obtained in violation of the Constitution.

In New York City, federal court records reveal the government obtained another search warrant that clearly violated the Fourth Amendment. That one ordered Microsoft to turn over the entire contents of a web-based email account and authorized “email by email review.”

It is time for Congress to act

There have been some preliminary efforts to rein in the FBI. Last spring, a bipartisan bill was introduced in Congress that would begin the process. It would create a National Commission on Security and Technology Challenges including experts from many sectors such as law enforcement, the technology industry, the intelligence community, and the privacy and civil liberties communities. The commission would review the laws about warrants for digital data and recommend changes in how they should be used.

That effort followed the FBI’s ill-advised attempt to get a court order forcing Apple to create and give to the government software eliminating the user privacy and security features of the iPhone.

In the wake of this week’s new evidence of further overstepping by the FBI, passing this bill should be one of the first tasks for Congress when it reconvenes after the election. Searches such as the likely illegal one conducted on Weiner’s laptop should be discovered, documented and prevented in the future.

How to handle the emails now

Attorney General Lynch should immediately press Comey for details about what steps he took to determine that these emails were obtained legally. Can the FBI show that a proper warrant authorized seizure of those particular emails? If the agency cannot do so, she should consider the recommendations of several federal judges for how to handle digital data.

Specifically, the messages should be immediately turned over to an independent court officer for any further review. Lynch could, for example, ask the chief judge of the federal district handling the Weiner investigation to appoint a court-supervised special master to take charge of the emails. Using procedures fair to both law enforcement and the owner of the email, that person could determine if they reveal evidence of a crime. And Lynch should explain to the American people exactly what the FBI agents did legally, and admit if they acted outside the law.

Stepping up to preserve Americans’ rights

The Fourth Amendment was written in response to the abusive use of search warrants by the government of King George III. Specifically, Americans objected to searches of the homes of political dissidents, which examined all a person’s private papers in hopes of finding evidence to imprison him.

In one case successfully challenging this practice, the lawyer for the victim of such a search spoke words that ring true today:

“Ransacking a man’s secret drawers and boxes to come at evidence against him is like racking his body to come at his secret thoughts. Has [the government] a right to see all a man’s private letters of correspondence, family concerns, trade and business? This would be monstrous indeed; and if it were lawful, no man could endure to live in this country.”

The Conversation

Clark D. Cunningham, W. Lee Burge Chair in Law & Ethics; Director, National Institute for Teaching Ethics & Professionalism, Georgia State University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/congress-clint-emails-comey-goodlatte-conyers-230508

Senior lawmakers confer with Comey about email review
By Colin Wilhelm
10/30/16 12:29 PM EDT

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte said on Sunday that he and the committee's top Democrat, Michigan Rep. John Conyers, had conferred over the weekend with FBI Director James Comey about the new review of emails that might involve Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state.

“We both encouraged him to make sure that the American people have as much information as possible before they have to make a decision on Nov. 8, based upon this stunning new development, that the bureau is examining new evidence in this case, that they said they had completed several months ago,” Goodlatte said, explaining the conversation Saturday with Comey.

The Virginia Republican appeared on ABC's "This Week" with Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, who said that if Comey found no new evidence of wrongdoing he would need to "acknowledge he's made a serious mistake.”

Schiff added that Comey’s letter disclosing the review to congressional leaders on Friday constituted an “ambiguity bomb” that “clearly wasn't in the public interest.”

Goodlatte pushed back.

“I think the director is very conscious of this and he feels, I think, in a very difficult situation, but one which he thinks that given the fact that Mrs. Clinton has been traveling around the country for 3 ½ months saying that the FBI has cleared her of wrongdoing, that when there is new, and I believe, substantial information available why wouldn't he tell the American people that this is still under investigation?”

09_hillary_clinton_32_gty_1160.jpg
2016
How Clinton plans to deal with Comey's October surprise
By GABRIEL DEBENEDETTI

Goodlatte added that he questioned Comey about a potential perjury referral he and House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) might make regarding Clinton’s earlier testimony to Congress, accidentally calling it an “impeachment” referral before correcting himself. And Comey directed the congressmen to the Justice Department, Goodlatte said.



EXCERPT – “In the wake of this week’s new evidence of further overstepping by the FBI, passing this bill should be one of the first tasks for Congress when it reconvenes after the election. Searches such as the likely illegal one conducted on Weiner’s laptop should be discovered, documented and prevented in the future.”


The Huffinton Post article named a number of instances in which the FBI has overstepped its powers or simply acted in a careless way. I’m glad to see that Congress has actually begun looking at a law or laws to “rein the FBI in.” A centralized civil enforcement system that begins to violate our freedoms, especially simply to bring a favored political party into office, is an evil rather than a good. I do hope that if Comey is an unethical and irresponsible head of such an agency, that he will be removed from office before his ten years are up, and retired.

If Hillary Clinton did, actually, commit perjury then she should be sanctioned or worse. This has the appearance and smell of the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky scandals. I am watching the news, of course, but I’m mainly just meditating to maintain a distance from the strong emotions that I could get into about it. I’m waiting to see that we really do keep Trump out, trounce him, in fact, and then I’m going to wash my hands of the Dems, unless they do start standing up for the “common folk” again. I don’t think they should live like monks, but they need to remember their roots.