A secret document that officials say played a key role in then-FBI Director James B. Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation has long been viewed within the FBI as unreliable and possibly a fake, according to people familiar with its contents.
In the midst of the 2016 presidential primary season, the FBI received what was described as a Russian intelligence document claiming a tacit understanding between the Clinton campaign and the Justice Department over the inquiry into whether she intentionally revealed classified information through her use of a private email server.
The Russian document cited a supposed email describing how then-Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch had privately assured someone in the Clinton campaign that the email investigation would not push too deeply into the matter.
.. In the supposed email, Wasserman Schultz claimed Lynch had been in private communication with a senior Clinton campaign staffer named Amanda Renteria during the campaign. The document indicated Lynch had told Renteria that she would not let the FBI investigation into Clinton go too far, according to people familiar with it.
Current and former officials have argued that the secret document gave Comey good reason to take the extraordinary step over the summer of announcing the findings of the Clinton investigation himself without Justice Department involvement.
Bill Clinton’s Meeting with Loretta Lynch Influenced Comey’s Decision to Announce Investigation
If Comey delivered the White House to Trump with his last minute announcement of his investigation into the emails, Bill Clinton helped with that. Comey said he decided to make the announcement after Bill Clinton met on a plane with Loretta Lynch — a meeting that was not only foolish but now turns out to have been incredibly consequential too.
.. The World Health Organization reports that the number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen has now reached 100,000. This isn’t getting attention partly because Saudi Arabia is blocking access to journalists (including me) because it doesn’t want coverage of its crimes against humanity there. The U.S. should stop backing Saudi Arabia in its brutal blockade of Yemen, resulting in starvation and disease among Yemenis.
Jason Chaffetz: ‘The investigation continues’
The election is over. Hillary Clinton’s email investigation apparently is not.
Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said on Friday the congressional probe would carry on looking into whether Clinton committed any crimes by using a secret server to send and receive emails during her time as Secretary of State.
Trump pledges to stay Trump
The billionaire is still exaggerating, generalizing, blaming and tweeting.
.. Why would a candidate who pledged to “drain the swamp” of Washington insiders add so many D.C. lobbyists to his transition team? Change, Trump said, takes time.
.. He will continue to exaggerate, to generalize, to obfuscate, to blame and to tweet.“It’s a great form of communication,” Trump said of his Twitter feed (Sunday morning, hours before the interview aired, Trump fired off three tweets slamming the New York Times)... His approach to Twitter mirrors his general boardroom-style approach: everything is open to negotiation. And his behavior and rhetoric are likely to remain every bit as malleable as his ideological leanings—which is to say: dependent on the situation and the role he is attempting to play at the time.
.. He also sought to allay the anxieties of gays and lesbians when he asserted that same-sex marriage is the law of the land: “It’s done. These cases have gone to the Supreme Court. They’ve been settled. And I’m—I’m fine with that,” he said.
.. And Trump acknowledged the possible reality of appointing a pro-life Supreme Court majority that could overturn Roe v. Wade, but seemed reluctant to consider the implications. When pressed by Stahl, he agreed that some women will “perhaps have to go—they’ll have to go to another state.”
“And that’s OK?” Stahl responded.
“Well, we’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “It’s got a long way to go, just so you understand. That has a long, long way to go.”
.. Asked about asking the government to continue to investigate Clinton, Trump seemed conflicted about doing so yet unable to completely close the door.
“They’re, they’re good people,” he said. “I don’t want to hurt them.
“And I will give you a very, very good and definitive answer the next time we do ‘60 Minutes’ together.”