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Clinton’s State Department: A RICO Enterprise
National Review ^ | 10/29/16 | Andrew C. McCarthy

Posted on 10/29/2016 5:29:39 AM PDT by randita

She appears to have used her official powers to do favors for major Clinton Foundation donors. Felony mishandling of classified information, including our nation’s most closely guarded intelligence secrets; the misappropriation and destruction of tens of thousands of government records — these are serious criminal offenses. To this point, the Justice Department and FBI have found creative ways not to charge Hillary Clinton for them. Whether this will remain the case has yet to be seen. As we go to press, the stunning news has broken that the FBI’s investigation is being reopened. It appears, based on early reports, that in the course of examining communications devices in a separate “sexting” investigation of disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner, the bureau stumbled on relevant e-mails — no doubt connected to Huma Abedin, Mr. Weiner’s wife and, more significantly, Mrs. Clinton’s closest confidant. According to the New York Times, the FBI has seized at least one electronic device belonging to Ms. Abedin as well. New e-mails, never before reviewed by the FBI, have been recovered.

The news is still emerging, and there will be many questions — particularly if it turns out that the bureau failed to obtain Ms. Abedin’s communications devices earlier in the investigation, a seemingly obvious step. As we await answers, we can only observe that, whatever the FBI has found, it was significant enough for director James Comey to sense the need to notify Congress, despite knowing what a bombshell this would be just days before the presidential election.

One thing, however, is already clear. Whatever the relevance of the new e-mails to the probe of Clinton’s classified-information transgressions and attempt to destroy thousands of emails, these offenses may pale in comparison with Hillary Clinton’s most audacious violations of law: Crimes that should still be under investigation; crimes that will, in fitting Watergate parlance, be a cancer on the presidency if she manages to win on November 8.

Mrs. Clinton appears to have converted the office of secretary of state into a racketeering enterprise. This would be a violation of the RICO law — the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1971 (codified in the U.S. penal code at sections 1961 et seq.). Hillary and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, operated the Clinton Foundation. Ostensibly a charity, the foundation was a de facto fraud scheme to monetize Hillary’s power as secretary of state (among other aspects of the Clintons’ political influence). The scheme involved (a) the exchange of political favors, access, and influence for millions of dollars in donations; (b) the circumvention of campaign-finance laws that prohibit political donations by foreign sources; (c) a vehicle for Mrs. Clinton to shield her State Department e-mail communications from public and congressional scrutiny while she and her husband exploited the fundraising potential of her position; and (d) a means for Clinton insiders to receive private-sector compensation and explore lucrative employment opportunities while drawing taxpayer-funded government salaries.

While the foundation did perform some charitable work, this camouflaged the fact that contributions were substantially diverted to pay lavish salaries and underwrite luxury travel for Clinton insiders. Contributions skyrocketed to $126 million in 2009, the year Mrs. Clinton arrived at Foggy Bottom. Breathtaking sums were “donated” by high-rollers and foreign governments that had crucial business before the State Department. Along with those staggering donations came a spike in speaking opportunities and fees for Bill Clinton. Of course, disproportionate payments and gifts to a spouse are common ways of bribing public officials — which is why, for example, high-ranking government officeholders must reveal their spouses’ income and other asset information on their financial-disclosure forms. While there are other egregious transactions, the most notorious corruption episode of Secretary Clinton’s tenure involves the State Department’s approval of a deal that surrendered fully one-fifth of the United States’ uranium-mining capacity to Vladimir Putin’s anti-American thugocracy in Russia.

The story, significant background of which predates Mrs. Clinton’s tenure at the State Department, has been recounted in ground-breaking reporting by the Hoover Institution’s Peter Schweizer (in his remarkable book Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich) and the New York Times. In a nutshell, in 2005, under the guise of addressing the incidence of HIV/AIDS in Kazakhstan (where the disease is nearly nonexistent), Bill Clinton helped his Canadian billionaire pal Frank Giustra to convince the ruling despot, Nursultan Nazarbayev (an infamous torturer and human-rights violator), to grant coveted uranium-mining rights to Giustra’s company, Ur-Asia Energy (notwithstanding that it had no background in the highly competitive uranium business). Uranium is a key component of nuclear power, from which the United States derives 20 percent of its total electrical power.

In the months that followed, Giustra gave an astonishing $31.3 million to the Clinton Foundation and pledged $100 million more. With the Kazakh rights secured, Ur-Asia was able to expand its holdings and attract new investors, like Ian Telfer, who also donated $2.35 million to the Clinton Foundation. Ur-Asia merged with Uranium One, a South African company, in a $3.5 billion deal — with Telfer becoming Uranium One’s chairman. The new company proceeded to buy up major uranium assets in the United States.

Meanwhile, as tends to happen in dictatorships, Nazarbayev (the Kazakh dictator) turned on the head of his state-controlled uranium agency (Kazatomprom), who was arrested for selling valuable mining rights to foreign entities like Ur-Asia/Uranium One. This was likely done at the urging of Putin, the neighborhood bully whose state-controlled atomic-energy company (Rosatom) was hoping to grab the Kazakh mines — whether by taking them outright or by taking over Uranium One. The Russian company sought to acquire a controlling interest in Uranium One.

That would mean a takeover not only of the Kazakh mines but of the U.S. uranium assets as well. Secretary Clinton approved the Russian takeover. The arrest, which happened a few months after Obama took office, sent Uranium One stock into free fall, as investors fretted that the Kazakh mining rights would be lost. Uranium One turned to Secretary Clinton’s State Department for help. As State Department cables disclosed by WikiLeaks show, Uranium One officials wanted more than a U.S. statement to the media; they pressed for written confirmation that their mining licenses were valid. Secretary Clinton’s State Department leapt into action: An energy officer from the U.S. embassy immediately held meetings with the Kazakh regime. A few days later, it was announced that Russia’s Rosatom had purchased 17 percent of Uranium One. Problem solved.

Except it became a bigger problem when the Russian company sought to acquire a controlling interest in Uranium One. That would mean a takeover not only of the Kazakh mines but of the U.S. uranium assets as well. Such a foreign grab requires approval by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a powerful government tribunal that the secretary of state sits on and heavily influences. Though she had historically postured as a hawk against foreign acquisitions of American assets with critical national-security implications, Secretary Clinton approved the Russian takeover of Uranium One. During and right after the big-bucks Russian acquisition, Telfer contributed $1.35 million to the Clinton Foundation. Other people with ties to Uranium One appear to have ponied up as much as $5.6 million in donations.

In 2009, the incoming Obama administration had been deeply concerned about the potential for corruption were Hillary to run the State Department while Bill and their family foundation were hauling in huge payments from foreign governments, businesses, and entrepreneurs. For precisely this reason, the White House required Mrs. Clinton to agree in writing that the Clinton Foundation would annually disclose its major donors and seek pre-approval from the White House before the foundation accepted foreign contributions. This agreement was repeated flouted — for example, by concealing the contributions from Telfer. Indeed, the foundation was recently forced to refile its tax returns for the years that Secretary Clinton ran the State Department after media reports that it failed to disclose foreign donations — approximately $20 million worth.

Under RICO, an “enterprise” can be any association of people, informal or formal, illegitimate or legitimate — it could be a Mafia family, an ostensibly charitable foundation, or a department of government. It is a racketeering enterprise if its affairs are conducted through “a pattern of racketeering activity.” A “pattern” means merely two or more violations of federal or state law; these violations constitute “racketeering activity” if they are included among the extensive list of felonies laid out in the statute.

Significantly for present purposes, the listed felonies include bribery, fraud, and obstruction of justice. Fraud encompasses both schemes to raise money on misleading pretexts (e.g., a charitable foundation that camouflages illegal political payoffs) and schemes to deprive Americans of their right to the honest services of a public official (e.g., quid pro quo arrangements in which official acts are performed in exchange for money). Both fraud and obstruction can be proved by false statements — whether they are public proclamations (e.g., “I turned over all work-related e-mails to the State Department”) or lies to government officials (e.g., concealing “charitable” donations from foreign sources after promising to disclose them, or claiming not to know that the “(C)” symbol in a government document means it is classified at the confidential level).

The WikiLeaks disclosures of e-mails hacked from Clinton presidential-campaign chairman John Podesta provide mounting confirmation that the Clinton Foundation was orchestrated for the purpose of enriching the Clintons personally and leveraging then-Secretary Clinton’s power to do it. Hillary and her underlings pulled this off by making access to her contingent on Clinton Foundation ties; by having top staff service Clinton Foundation donors and work on Clinton Foundation business; by systematically conducting her e-mail communications outside the government server system; by making false statements to the public, the White House, Congress, the courts, and the FBI; and by destroying thousands of e-mails — despite congressional inquiries and Freedom of Information Act demands — in order to cover up (among other things) the shocking interplay between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation.

Under federal law, that can amount to running an enterprise by a pattern of fraud, bribery, and obstruction. If so, it is a major crime. Like the major crimes involving the mishandling of classified information and destruction of government files, it cries out for a thorough and credible criminal investigation. More important, wholly apart from whether there is sufficient evidence for criminal convictions, there is overwhelming evidence of a major breach of trust that renders Mrs. Clinton unfit for any public office, let along the nation’s highest public office. — Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior policy fellow at the National Review Institute and a contributing editor of National Review.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bharara; clinton; emailgate; preet; rico
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1 posted on 10/29/2016 5:29:39 AM PDT by randita
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To: randita

http://www.unz.com/pbuchanan/a-presidency-from-hell/


2 posted on 10/29/2016 5:31:22 AM PDT by Bogie
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To: randita

The State Dept AND the Clinton Crime Family Slush Fund and ALL the Clinton Inner Circle should be RICO-ed!!


3 posted on 10/29/2016 5:33:18 AM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: randita
Of course, it was a RICO operation. The Clintons have always been a racket. It's only to be expected. Their roots in organized crime go back to their earliest years. Hillary was a slobbering groupie to Alinsky who acknowledged Frank Nitti, Capone's enforcer and successor, as his mentor.



Bill's mother used to skank around with gangsters in old Hot Springs, the Mobster Riviera. Racketeering is in their DNA.
4 posted on 10/29/2016 5:40:29 AM PDT by Paine in the Neck ( Socialism consumes EVERYTHING!)
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To: randita
disproportionate payments and gifts to a spouse are common ways of bribing public officials

After Obama was elected, Michelle left her $300,000+ job at a Chicago hospital. Afterwards, that job was filled by ... wait for it ... nobody. The $300,000 job was simply a make-work job for Mrs. Obama. In reality, a legal way to bribe Obama.

Also, would be interesting to compare donations and favors to the Clintons vs. donations and favors to say, Colin Powell.

5 posted on 10/29/2016 5:42:02 AM PDT by libertylover (The problem with Obama is not that his skin is too black, it's that his ideas are too RED.)
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To: randita

RICO them and Rudy Guiliani is the expert here.

Remember that he was the federal prosecutor who masterminded the indictment of 11 mafia leaders including 5 dominant crime families in NYC before eh was mayor.

Once again Trump picks the right person!!


6 posted on 10/29/2016 5:42:41 AM PDT by stonehouse01
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To: stonehouse01

oops eh = he typo


7 posted on 10/29/2016 5:43:20 AM PDT by stonehouse01
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To: randita

NOW they get it! Sheesh, we’ve been saying this for months.


8 posted on 10/29/2016 5:45:58 AM PDT by Oratam
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To: randita

We already know that there is nothing to these emails and they can not be newly undiscovered emails either , they must be duplicates of what they have. We also know there is NO Secret,Confidential, Classified Info in ANY OF THEM.

Everyone involved has already SWORN UNDER OATH TO THIS FACT.

James Comey should RELEASE THE ENTIRE DUMP IMMEDIATELY, UN-REDACTED AND UNEDITED.

Let the Chips Fall.


9 posted on 10/29/2016 5:46:30 AM PDT by eyeamok (destruction of government records.)
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To: stonehouse01
Trump picks the right people!! And in the same breath....they're good guys, patriots and do the right thing.

Christie is quiet...It may come to be that he winds up as AG....if he can get by the Bridgegate cr**....which is nothing compared to Hillary.

10 posted on 10/29/2016 5:47:26 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: randita

"Sheeeeit, y'all can't possibly believe that"

11 posted on 10/29/2016 5:48:11 AM PDT by bert ((K.E.; N.P.; GOPc;WASP .... Hilary is an Ameriphobe)
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To: randita
Everyone understands, even the Democrats and the Media (but I repeat myself) who are denying it, that Hillary Clinton and the rest of her crew are guilty of numerous felonies.

Everyone also understands, even the Democrats and the Media who are denying it, that Hillary Clinton has a serious degenerative neurological disease that is being concealed from the public but a glimpse of which was seen in the bystander cellphone video of Hillary freezing up and stiffening and then face-planting before being tossed in her van like a side of beef on 9/11 in NYC.

The bottom line for the Democrats and the Media is that the important thing is not which Democrat is president, but that a Democrat is president in order to continue to control the vast administrative and judicial apparatus that really controls the country.

They are trying to drag her sick, crooked body across the finish line using a rigged system knowing that if she wins, that she will likely die before any investigation ever gets to the stage of an impeachment vote and that anyway the Republicans will proceed slowly because they won't want to impeach "the first woman president."

The Democrats and the Never Trumpers will be just as happy with Tim the Creepy Clown Kaine as president, as their common agenda of open borders, a global common market, the end of US sovereignty and demographic change in the US to ensure a one-party state will continue.


12 posted on 10/29/2016 5:50:21 AM PDT by Meet the New Boss
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To: randita

RICO, RICO, RICO, the whole’Rat party is corrupt! ...


13 posted on 10/29/2016 5:50:27 AM PDT by VRWC For Truth ( FU Klintoons)
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To: randita

Hillary Campaign Fundraisers Locked Down Billions in Foreign Arms Contracts While She Was Secretary of State
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2016/10/28/clinton-inc-arms-deal-n2237843


14 posted on 10/29/2016 5:50:53 AM PDT by GailA (Ret. SCPO wife: A politician that won't keep his word to Veterans/Military won't keep them to You!)
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To: eyeamok
He can't release them DURING as ongoing investigation....everyone knows that....but he's giving a heads up...to the whole world.

Putin must be laughing his a** off. No country will touch us with a 10 foot pole right now.

Pretty disgusting....but we knew it....from the beginning.

Dem voters might just figure out that they're "sheep"....Hillary's sheep.

15 posted on 10/29/2016 5:50:57 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: Ann Archy
That sounds like an Al Capone style of operation.

In his grave he must be amazed.

16 posted on 10/29/2016 5:52:51 AM PDT by SandRat (Dutr, Honor, Country.)
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To: randita

Need to add, FBI, DOJ, EPA, IRS, CNN, MSNBC, UN, Democrats in Congress.


17 posted on 10/29/2016 5:58:55 AM PDT by stockpirate (OBAMA MUST BE ON THE PAYROLL OF THE CLINTON FOUNDATION.)
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To: Paine in the Neck
Wow.. That explains a lot. I had never heard about the Alinsky-Nitti connection. Apparently Alinsky was closely associated with Nitti, maybe even an employee, for the better part of two years.

One Mafia President meets another

18 posted on 10/29/2016 6:08:06 AM PDT by Campion (Halten Sie sich unbedingt an die Lehre!)
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To: Paine in the Neck
Live like a gangster, die like a gangster.


19 posted on 10/29/2016 6:10:58 AM PDT by Travis McGee (EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: randita

“The new company proceeded to buy up major uranium assets in the United States. “

AND some of those uranium assets were on private land. The owners didn’t want to give/sell mineral rights to these companies/the feds. The more ‘land’ Hillary could sell them, the more MONEY she could make. SO.... Hillary used the BLM to try and force them to sell/go out of business/or get murdered by FBI agents.

GUESS where these lands were, and who owned them ?


20 posted on 10/29/2016 6:14:00 AM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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