Request for Stay – DOJ Stalls For More Time Before Forced Production of Comey Memos…
In the ongoing battle for the unredacted Comey Memos, and David Archey Declarations describing those memos [Backstory Here], today the DOJ filed a motion for a stay (full pdf below) against the forced production of the documents (previously ordered by Judge Boasberg).
Hat Tip Techno Fog – As a likely result of this DOJ motion, Judge Boasberg will issue a deadline on production. Whether that deadline will be 14 days or until the end of the appeal deadline (60 days from August 12) is still unknown.
[Backstory for those unfamilar] In the background of what was The Mueller Investigation, there was a FOIA case where the FBI was fighting to stop the release of the Comey memos. Within that courtroom fight Mueller’s lead FBI agent David Archey wrote a series of declarations to the court describing the content of the memos and arguing why they should be kept classified.
The FOIA fight shifted; and the plaintiff, CNN, argued for public release of the content of the FBI agent’s descriptions, now known as the “Archey Declarations”.
After a lengthy back-and-forth legal contest, on June 7th Judge James E Boasberg agreed to allow the FBI to keep the Comey memo content hidden, but instructed the DOJ/FBI to release the content of the Archey Declarations. On August 2nd the DOJ/FBI changed their position and claimed national security, “sources and methods” would be compromised by the release of the Archey Declarations.
On August 12th Judge Boasberg completely rejected the DOJ and FBI argument.
On August 13th the DOJ told CNN their compliance on production of the documents was pending their decision to appeal the August 12th judicial order.
On August 14th CNN filed a motion requesting Judge Boasberg to order immediate compliance from the DOJ with the release.
So today, August 26th, the DOJ is requesting a “STAY” of judicial order unless and until all legal appeals to a higher court are exhausted. Here’s the motion:
[need to go to web page]
The issue at hand is tangentially related to the current Inspector General carve-out report, through the aspect of the Comey Memos.
We are currently anticipating a report from the OIG related to former FBI Director James Comey, his writing of the memos, and the leaking of some of those memos to the media via his friend Daniel Richman. {LINK}
No-one knows the number of memos that James Comey has written. [We may get that answer in the IG report.] There are nine memos written by James Comey surrounding contact and conversations with President-elect and then President Trump (2016/2017).
However, based on the court declarations by Mueller’s former lead FBI investigator David Archey, it sounds like there are many more memos than anyone currently understands; including memos about the investigation of candidate Trump, that were written during the “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation 2016 and 2017, that describe investigative details, sources, operations and code-names of intelligence assets used in the investigation.
The Comey memos are not just about his contact with Donald Trump as a candidate, president-elect or president. The media keeps downplaying the memos as a few notes taken by the former FBI director, but all of the background information suggest the assembled writing is something more akin to a personal diary.
My strongly researched suspicion is that James Comey kept detailed private notes of what was happening during the operation(s) against Donald Trump and his campaign team, both during the campaign and after the election when President Trump took office. Just take a look at how David Archey described the content and you can see those notes, now called memos, were in addition to FD 302 reports being filed by FBI officials.
Why James Comey would keep detailed notes beyond what was being officially recorded in the FBI 302 reports is likely a question to be answered within the pending inspector general report. There’s a lot of sketchy non-transparent stuff going on amid all of this….
Below is an example of the redacted information in the Archey Declarations that Judge Boasberg had previously ruled must be released with the redactions removed. This is what the DOJ and FBI are working to stop, stall and delay from being released to the public:
https://theconservativetreehouse.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/comey-memo-3.jpg
The United States Department of Justice Civil Division, Federal Programs Branch, is fighting this court ordered release. The DOJ Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division is Jody Hunt. That name might be familiar to you because Jody Hunt was Jeff Sessions former chief-of-staff.
We previously anticipated Jody Hunt being involved with this current case; the DOJ and FBI attempt to block release of the memos and declarations. However, we have recently been informed that Jody Hunt was recused from the case by DOJ lawyers during the time when the Mueller investigation was ongoing.
According to the latest information we can gather, DOJ Asst. Attorney James Burnham replaced Jody Hunt for all oversight issues in this court battle.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/justice-department-asks-supreme-court-to-allow-border-asylum-ban/
Justice Department asks Supreme Court to allow border asylum ban
The Justice Department on Monday asked the Supreme Court to allow the Trump administration to implement its most sweeping effort yet to overhaul the asylum system along the border while a legal challenge plays out in court.
U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco, who represents the federal government before the court, urged the justices to issue an administrative stay on a ruling by a judge in San Francisco, who earlier in the summer blocked a regulation that would make most migrants from Central America and other countries ineligible for asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The administration had already asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to do so. Earlier this month, the appellate court did not grant the government’s request, but it said the injunction blocking the near-total asylum ban only applies within the court’s jurisdiction. The decision meant that administration could proceed with the policy in New Mexico and Texas, but not in California and Arizona, which fall within the purview of the 9th Circuit.
Through its filing on Monday, the administration is asking the high court to allow the government to implement the rule along the entire border. Francisco said the policy “serves important public purposes” and “alleviates a crushing burden on the U.S. asylum system by prioritizing asylum seekers who most need asylum in the United States.”
The rule, a joint effort by the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, restricts access to the U.S. asylum system for non-Mexican migrants who traveled through Mexico and other countries to reach the southwestern border, but did not seek protection in those nations.
Although designed to stem the flow of Central American migrants journeying north, the regulation also would affect people from other parts of the world trying to reach the U.S. through Mexico, including Cubans, Venezuelans, Brazilians and central Africans, who have traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border in higher numbers this year.
Administration officials have maintained that the rule would help curb what they call “forum shopping” by migrants. They have repeatedly accused migrants of preferring to seek asylum in the U.S., rather than in the countries along their journey that might be able to offer them safe haven.
“The rule also screens out asylum claims that are less likely to be meritorious by denying asylum to aliens who refused to seek protection in third countries en route to the southern border,” Francisco wrote Monday. “In turn, the rule deters aliens without a genuine need for asylum from making the arduous and potentially dangerous journey from Central America to the United States.”
But immigrant advocates have said the policy ignores U.S. and international refugee law and would force countless migrants and asylum seekers to return to place where they may face persecution.
When he approved a injunction against the ban in late July, Judge Jon Tigar of U.S. District Court in San Francisco seemed to agree with the concerns raised by the plaintiffs in one of two lawsuits. “An injunction would vindicate the public’s interest — which our existing immigration laws clearly articulate — in ensuring that we do not deliver aliens into the hands of their persecutors,” he wrote in his ruling.
Late last year, Tigar halted a similar effort by the administration to prohibit migrants who cross the border illegally from being able to seek asylum. The Supreme Court, by a vote of 5 to 4, later rejected the administration’s request to stay Tigar’s ruling.
Dying to know how many more of these high level investigative Reports will be kicked up stairs to Barr, laid in his lap without conclusive results for recommending charges, leaving him to the task?
So far it’s been the Mueller Report and now, today, the US Attorney Liu Report is laid before AG Barr.
What’s up with leaving Barr in the hot seat alone?
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3774673/posts?page=1
Request for Stay – DOJ Stalls For More Time Before Forced Production of Comey Memos
CONSERVATIVE TREEHOUSE ^ | 8/26/2019 | SUNDANCE
