Posted on 03/02/2018 4:39:56 AM PST by Rashputin
EXCLUSIVE: FBI Denies Secret Comey-Obama Meeting Raises Integrity and Public Trust Issues
Richard Pollock Reporter 9:09 PM 03/01/2018
The FBI will not expedite the release of documents about secret meetings between Comey and Obama Comey held a secret Oval Office meeting with Obama on Jan. 5, 2017 TheDCNF requested records of all meetings between the two
The FBI states it will not expedite the release of documents about secret meetings between FBI Director James Comey and former President Barack Obama, according to a letter the bureau sent to The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Such information is not “a matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exists possible questions about the government’s integrity which affects public confidence,” David Hardy, the section chief for the bureau’s Record/Information Dissemination Section, told TheDCNF in a Feb. 26 letter.
TheDCNF, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), requested records of all meetings between Comey and Obama and sought an “expedited process” as provided under the act when issues are of great interest to the media and the records address issues pertaining to government integrity. TheDCNF FOIA request was filed Feb. 16, 2018.
The issue prompting the FOIA request was the disclosure Comey held a secret Oval Office meeting with Obama on Jan. 5, 2017. Comey never divulged the meeting to Congress. (RELATED: Comey Held Secret Obama White House Meeting Before Inauguration)
Susan Rice, Obama’s national security adviser, former deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, and former Vice President Joe Biden also attended the meeting.
The National Archives revealed the existence of the meeting and released a declassified version of an email Rice sent to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Rice wrote an email to herself about the secret Jan. 5 meeting with Comey on Inauguration Day Jan. 20, 2017, as President Donald Trump was being sworn into office. The email suggested Comey may have misled Congress and was attempting to cover up the extent of his relationship with Obama.
Christopher Bedford, TheDCNF’s editor-in-chief, called the FBI denial “shameful.”
“The FBI just told us that Director James Comey potentially lying to Congress should not be of interest to us, that it doesn’t speak to their ‘integrity,’ and that it shouldn’t impact America’s ‘confidence’ in them,” Bedford said. “They said this with a straight face. We disagree, we think the American people disagree, and we think it’s absolutely shameful.”
Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and subcommittee chairman, and Lindsey Graham released the Rice email after they received it from the National Archives.
“President Obama had a brief follow-on conversation with FBI Director Comey and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates in the Oval Office,” Rice stated in the email on Jan. 5.
The President urged Comey to proceed “by the book” on the Russian investigation, according to Rice.
Grassley of Iowa and Graham of South Carolina wrote to Rice in a Feb. 8 letter saying the email seemed “odd” to them.
“It strikes us as odd that, among your activities in the final moments on the final day of the Obama administration, you would feel the need to send yourself such an unusual email purporting to document a conversation involving President Obama,” the two wrote.
“Despite your claim that President Obama repeatedly told Mr. Comey to proceed ‘by the book,’ substantial questions have arisen about whether officials at the FBI, as well as at the Justice Department and the State Department, actually did proceed ‘by the book,'” the two senators continued.
Comey claimed in June 8, 2017, testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence he had only two face-to-face meetings with the president in which they were alone.
“I spoke alone with President Obama twice in person (and never on the phone) – once in 2015 to discuss law enforcement policy issues and a second time, briefly, for him to say goodbye in late 2016,” Comey’s opening statement read.
The qualifier that he had meetings with Obama “alone” permitted the former director to suggest he only met with the former president on two occasions.
TheDCNF filed its FOIA request before the bureau “seeking records that identify and describe all meetings between former FBI Director James Comey and President Barack Obama. This records request is for all meetings with President Obama alone or with meetings with the President in the company of other administration officials.” TheDCNF requested records to include all Comey “logs, director appointment schedules, emails and memos outlining the meetings with the former President along with administration officials,” adding, the records “should list the date of the meeting, location, topic and meeting participants.”
TheDCNF stated it sought an “expedited request” for producing the records.
“The issue of Director Comey’s meetings with President Obama is a key troubling issue for Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley,” TheDCNF wrote in its application for the expedited processing. TheDCNF attached to Grassly-Graham letter to Rice in the FOIA request for expediting handling.
Hardy said TheDCNF failed to meet its standards for expedited processing as provided under 28 CFR 16.5 (e)(1)(iv).
“You have not provided enough information concerning the statutory requirements permitting expedition: therefore your request is denied,” he told TheDCNF.
They can shut up and take what the FBI wants them to have when the FBI wants to give it to them.
“They can shut up and take what the FBI wants them to have when the FBI wants to give it to them. “
They are in rebellion.
Public Trust Issues???...we’re away pass that...
Given the severe credibility issues of the FBI, their denial is dubious if not utterly BS.
House cleaning on the 7th floor should have already taken place given we had an actual AG that had ballz and headhunted verses being totally inept and powerless. Remove his arse already, kkthx.
Yes, we are way past that - can't even see it in the rear view mirror past that.
I'm at the point now where I believe we should split off the crime labs, criminal database and other technical services and assign them to other entities - DHS, ICE, or some such. But the bulk of the FBI should be disbanded. Everyone above field agent should be retired from federal service and never hired again.
To me, it is no longer "make a case for fixing/removing/prosecuting parts of the FBI" - it is now "if you want to keep it, make a case for keeping some parts of the FBI" because it sure seems like for the good of the Republic it needs to be dismantled.
The FB”I”/clowns regard themselves as above the US Congress,
and tapped them,
and killed who they wanted,
but missed with their train crash,
and attempt on POTUS,
and now murders children and attempt to decimate Hawaii.
They have ONLY their Mockingbird-MSM left
and their hidden assets ready to explode on digital command.
The person claining there was a meeting is also a known liar, Susan Rice.
Comey committed perjury in his Congressional testimony because Comey told congressional oversight members multiple times that he was out of the loop of the day to day aspects of the investigation and was therefore uninformed about the details of the case and unable to reply to many questions
<><> Bill Clinton on the tarmac,
<><> IRS and Lois Lerner,
<><> Holden and Obama’s Fast and Furious,
<><> Hillary and Benghazi,
<><> Susan Rice’s Benghazi lies,
<><> The Clinton Foundation ad infinitum,
<><> The Clintons’ Uranium 1 Deal,
<><> Hillary’s private server,
<><> Susan Rice’s Unmasking,
<><> John Podesta’s Russian deals,
<><> Huma and Cheryl Mills’ self-serving activities at State.
<><> The missing $6 billion at Hillary’s State Dept,
<><> Huma’s cousin pigging out at the State Dept trough,
<><> Sid Blumenthal’s $millions from the State Dept,
<><>Amb Joe Wilson (Valerie Plame’s hubby) helping himself to the State Dept cookie jar,
<><> Obama’s Foundation looting State of $100 million “to teach Muslim girls in Morocco,”
<><> Secy Hillary’s Millenium Challenge Corp slush fund.
...principles should lose their retirement...
FBI: “Although there is evidence of potential violations regarding the FBI’s conduct and betrayal of the American People via shady deals, lies, and treason, our judgment is that no reasonable person would claim there were concerns of integrity or public trust.”
How queer.
Since the incoming President was not present (recall Obama’s own Office Of The President Elect, he DID transition in before Jan 20) we can conclude it wasn’t to aid the incoming president.
So was it to plan strategy against the incoming president?
To coordinate talking points on past activities?
To assure the outgoing president that he would be protected from investigations and prosecution?
None of it looks good. 2-weeks from ousting, he was a short-timer working overtime with Deep State and changing laws and rules.
FBI=SWAMP CENTRAL.
Keep Digging!
I just have one question about all of this.....
Where are the Comey memo’s to himself? He testified that he made memorandums to memorialize important meetings for himself. I would think any meeting with a President would meet such a criteria given his memorandums (that were leaked) to himself.
Where. Is. The. Memo?
This is the real question.
All of these last minute actions were to make sure that any “dirt” uncovered would be leaked to the media. They have not purposely said it was to promote leaks, but they did admit that they wanted “more people to know what was uncovered” despite no historical necessity for people in those positions to have access to such classified information. They admitted half of this and we know what the other half was..... leaking.
On top of that, we now have Samantha Powers (per Gowdy) stating that she did not sign the unmasking requests made in her name. Therefore, someone in the executive branch within intel circles FORGED her name on these requests. Is this not highly irregular? Why is nobody is talking about this either!
Attention Mr. Wray, is this how you are running the FBI? Does your boss, Jeff Sessions agree with and condone your management style?
Finally, President Trump, is this the type of Justice Department you said you would have as the “Law and order President”? or was that just a slogan like “lock her up”?
FBI LIES!!!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.