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Five takeaways from Justice IG report on Comey
The Hill ^ | 8/29/2019 | Olivia Beavers

Posted on 08/29/2019 4:54:49 PM PDT by bitt

The Justice Department watchdog unveiled a report Thursday rebuking former FBI director James Comey over his handling of memos detailing his conversations with President Trump, saying he violated FBI policies.

The report from DOJ Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz rebutted Comey’s claims that the memos were merely personal recollections, not official FBI records, and sharply criticized the former FBI chief for mishandling sensitive information.

While highly critical of Comey’s actions, the inspector general did not make recommendations on whether the former top government official should face any charges, and Attorney General William Barr has declined to prosecute him.

The watchdog report has reverberated throughout Washington, thrusting Comey — a figure who has long drawn ire from members of both parties over his work at the FBI during the 2016 election — back into the political fray.

Here are five takeaways surrounding the release of the 83-page IG report:

Report gives Trump ammunition

The scathing inspector general report supplied fresh fodder for President Trump and his GOP allies, who have long alleged malfeasance by top members of the Justice Department and FBI during the 2016 election.

These fervent critics now have an independent government watchdog publicly confirming that Comey violated FBI policies and his employment agreement with the bureau when he decided to give memos to a friend in the hopes they would be shared with the media.

(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: comey; doj; ig; ighorowitz
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1 posted on 08/29/2019 4:54:50 PM PDT by bitt
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To: Whenifhow; null and void; aragorn; EnigmaticAnomaly; kalee; Kale; 2ndDivisionVet; azishot; ...

p


2 posted on 08/29/2019 4:55:03 PM PDT by bitt (The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody had decided not to see.- Ayn)
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To: Magoo
Wray Nose what's going on and won't do anything about it.


3 posted on 08/29/2019 4:58:40 PM PDT by JonPreston
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To: bitt

6. Comey and the deep state MIGHT be prosecuted for some agregious felony. Maybe. Someday.

If you wish real damned hard...


4 posted on 08/29/2019 5:00:16 PM PDT by MortMan (Americans are a people increasingly separated by our connectivity.)
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To: bitt

If the IG could have exonerated Comey, he would have said so.


5 posted on 08/29/2019 5:00:26 PM PDT by Mr. K (No consequence of repealing obamacare is worse than obamacare itself.)
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To: bitt

Olivia Beavers.

She does?

(sorry)


6 posted on 08/29/2019 5:00:38 PM PDT by elcid1970 ("The Second Amendment is more important than Islam.")
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To: bitt

What is the point of classifying information when the department heads dont get charged for violating COMSEC. This lays a dangerous precedent for all to follow.


7 posted on 08/29/2019 5:02:55 PM PDT by D.A.Veteran
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To: bitt

Number 1. IG was appointed by Obama.

Number 2. See number 1.

But, according to Gohmert, FBI Director Christopher Wray’s approach seems to be to release as little as possible in a bid to preserve the credibility of the bureau.

“Part of it is Christopher Wray who is dear friends with [former FBI Director] Mueller, dear friends with Comey,” Gohmert said. “It appears to me that he’s been more interested and keeping quiet as much as he possibly can, and then hoping the FBI gets their credibility back, instead of rooting out wrongdoers and coming completely open.”


8 posted on 08/29/2019 5:04:08 PM PDT by stockpirate (Anyone who believes Epstein killed himself is a fool)
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To: bitt

I don’t think Comey broke any criminal laws. But the man is still a disgrace whose firing was absolutely correct. Rosenstein should be ashamed he fell for Comey’s ploy to put the country through two years of hell over a contrived and baseless investigation of the Trump campaign.


9 posted on 08/29/2019 5:07:23 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: colorado tanker

Wake me when somebody gets charged...


10 posted on 08/29/2019 5:08:16 PM PDT by CondorFlight
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To: bitt
And while the report rebuked Comey, it did not cast aspersions on the integrity of the Russia investigation, which former special counsel Robert Mueller wrapped up in March. The special counsel did not find evidence to charge members of the Trump campaign with conspiring with Russia, and did not reach a conclusion on whether the president obstructed justice.

Because this particular investigation was soley about Comey's leaking, not about everything else. That comes next. The article is very poorly written indeed.

11 posted on 08/29/2019 5:09:36 PM PDT by little jeremiah (New tagline in the pipeline)
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To: bitt

so Barr is not Trump’s lackey?


12 posted on 08/29/2019 5:10:35 PM PDT by joshua c
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To: bitt
This specific report was to determine if Comey broke FBI "rules", which AG Barr was never going to do anything about, especially since Comey isn't an FBI employee anymore. From the report:
Upon completing our investigation, pursuant to Section 4(d) of the Inspector General Act of 1978, the OIG provided a copy of its factual findings to the Department for a prosecutorial decision regarding Comey's conduct. See 5 U.S.C.A. App. 3 § 4(d) (2016). After reviewing the matter, the Department declined prosecution. Thereafter, we prepared this report to consider whether Comey’s actions violated Department or FBI policy, or the terms of Comey’s FBI Employment Agreement. As described in this report, we conclude that Comey’s retention, handling, and dissemination of certain Memos violated Department and FBI policies, and his FBI Employment Agreement.4

Report of Investigation of Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey's Disclosure of Sensitive Investigative Information and Handling of Certain Memoranda
https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2019/o1902.pdf (pg's 2,3).

While just about everyone else would have been brought up on charges in this situation, I'm of the opinion...still, that the FISA abuse is the bigger fish to fry and that is where Barr and Durham better be laying the groundwork for indictments over this failed coup attempt.

13 posted on 08/29/2019 5:11:40 PM PDT by rxsid (HOW CAN A NATURAL BORN CITIZEN'S STATUS BE "GOVERNED" BY GREAT BRITAIN? - Leo Donofrio (2009))
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To: bitt
Takeaway #1:
1. Comey's first name is not Scooter

Legal experts, meanwhile, say it’s a mistake to cast the report as a vindication of Trump, noting that the issue of Comey’s handling of the memos is separate from their contents.

The details of the memo leaked to The New York Times provided Comey’s account of Trump asking him to let go of the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, which Mueller investigated as possible obstruction of justice.


still wont mention that Comey's memos are hearsay...
14 posted on 08/29/2019 5:14:15 PM PDT by stylin19a (2016 - Best.Election.Of.All.Times.Ever.In.The.History.Of.Ever)
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To: bitt
when he decided to give memos to a friend in the hopes they would be shared with the media. ...
Author of the article cannot be trusted. From the report, " Comey instructed Richman to share the contents of Memo 4, but not the Memo itself, with a specific reporter for The New York Times."
15 posted on 08/29/2019 5:18:06 PM PDT by Cboldt
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To: bitt

The Dems just got handed another victory. When the media finishes with this, Comey will be an “unsung hero”.


16 posted on 08/29/2019 5:23:40 PM PDT by SaxxonWoods (The internet has driven the world mad.)
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To: Mr. K

If the IG could have exonerated Comey, he would have said so.

LOL!


17 posted on 08/29/2019 5:23:51 PM PDT by samtheman (The drive-by media is the true boss of the democommie party.)
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To: Cboldt
That little item caught my eye when the Comey memos were first reported in the New York Times.

The story being reported at the time was that the NYT never saw the memos, but simply accepted what was being read to them over the phone by this Richman jerk.

That one piece of information demonstrates a reckless disregard for even the most basic standards of half-assed journalism. No confirmation of sources, no confirmation of the accuracy of the information that was being READ to them, and — remarkably — NO VERIFICATION THAT THE MEMOS EVEN EXISTED AT ALL.

18 posted on 08/29/2019 5:24:48 PM PDT by Alberta's Child ("Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave." -- Frederick Douglass)
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To: CondorFlight

No one in DC will face any criminal inquiry.
The FBI has shown itself to be a criminal enterprise.
The bastards tried to steal the votes of 63 million Americans and NO ONE has faced justice, NO ONE.
If the top people at the FBI/DOJ are allowed unfettered abilities to subvert elections then the whole government is corrupt.
Thanx Bill Barr, you phony.


19 posted on 08/29/2019 5:27:55 PM PDT by glasseye ("24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not." ~ H. L. Mencken)
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To: bitt

On August 1st(how quickly people forget):

DOJ will not prosecute Comey for leaking memos after IG referral: sources:

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-will-not-prosecute-comey-for-leaking-memos-after-ig-referral-source


20 posted on 08/29/2019 5:28:07 PM PDT by Revel
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