Posted on 03/31/2016 9:51:16 AM PDT by Kaslin
The FBI investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's failure to protect state secrets contained in her emails has entered its penultimate phase, and it is a dangerous one for her and her aides.
Federal law enforcement sources have let it be known that federal prosecutors and the FBI have completed their examination of raw data in the case. After the FBI acquires raw data -- for example, the nature and number of the state secrets in the emails Clinton failed to protect or the regular, consistent, systematic nature of that failure -- prosecutors and agents proceed to draw rational inferences from that data.
Then they proceed to corroborate those inferences, looking for other sources to support or even to contradict them. With one exception, all of this work has been done with neutral sources of evidence -- documents, email metadata, government records and technical experts.
The exception is Bryan Pagliano, the one member of Clinton's inner circle who, with either a written promise of non-prosecution or an order of immunity from a federal judge, began to cooperate with federal prosecutors last fall.
Here is what he told the feds.
Pagliano has explained to federal prosecutors the who, what, when, how and why he migrated an open State Department email stream and a secret State Department email stream from government computers to Clinton's secret server in her home in Chappaqua, New York. He has told them that Clinton paid him $5,000 to commit that likely criminal activity.
He has also told some of the 147 FBI agents assigned to this case that Clinton herself was repeatedly told by her own State Department information technology experts and their colleagues at the National Security Agency that her persistent use of her off-the-shelf BlackBerry was neither an effective nor an acceptable means of receiving, transmitting or safeguarding state secrets. Little did they know how reckless she was with government secrets, as none was apparently then aware of her use of her non-secure secret server in Chappaqua for all of her email uses.
We know that the acquisition and corroboration phase of the investigation has been completed because the prosecutors have begun to ask Clinton's top aides during her time as secretary of state to come in for interviews. This is a delicate and dangerous phase for the aides, all of whom have engaged counsel to represent them.
Here are the dangers.
The Department of Justice will not reveal to the aides or their lawyers what it knows about the case or what evidence of criminal wrongdoing, if any, it has acquired on each of them. Hence, if they submit to an FBI interview, they will go in "blind." By going in blind, the aides run the risk of getting caught in a "perjury trap." Though not under oath, they could be trapped into lying by astute prosecutors and aggressive FBI agents, as it is a crime -- the equivalent of perjury -- to lie to them or materially mislead them.
For this reason, most white-collar criminal defense lawyers will not permit their clients to be interviewed by any prosecutors or FBI agents. Martha Stewart's lawyers failed to give her that advice, and she went to prison for one lie told in one conversation with one FBI agent.
After interviewing any Clinton aides who choose to be interviewed, the DOJ personnel on the case will move their investigation into its final phase, in which they will ask Clinton herself whether she wishes to speak with them. The prosecutors will basically tell her lawyers that they have evidence of the criminal behavior of their client and that before they present it to a grand jury, they want to afford Clinton an opportunity blindly to challenge it.
This will be a moment she must devoutly wish would pass from her, as she will face a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't dilemma.
Here is her dilemma.
If she were to talk to federal prosecutors and FBI agents, they would catch her in many inconsistencies, as she has spoken with great deception in public about this case. She has, for example, stated many times that she used the private server so she could have one mobile device for all of her emails. The FBI knows she had four mobile devices. She has also falsely claimed publicly and under oath that she neither sent nor received anything "marked classified." The FBI knows that nothing is marked classified, and its agents also know that her unprotected secret server transmitted some of the nation's gravest secrets.
The prosecutors and agents cannot be happy about her public lies and her repeated demeaning attitude about their investigation, and they would have an understandable animus toward her if she were to meet with them.
If she were to decline to be interviewed -- a prudent legal but treacherous political decision -- the feds would leak her rejection of their invitation, and political turmoil would break loose because one of her most imprudent and often repeated public statements in this case has been that she can't wait to talk to the FBI. That's a lie, and the FBI knows it.
Some Democrats who now understand the gravity of the case against Clinton have taken to arguing lately that the feds should establish a different and higher bar -- a novel and unknown requirement for a greater quantum of evidence and proof of a heavier degree of harm -- before Clinton can be prosecuted. They have suggested this merely because she is the likely Democratic presidential nominee.
The public will never stand for that. America has a bedrock commitment to the rule of law. The rule of law means that no one is beneath the law's protections or above its requirements. The DOJ is not in the business of rewriting the law, but the Democrats should get in the business of rethinking Clinton's status as their presumptive presidential nominee, lest a summer catastrophe come their way.
“The public will never stand for that. America has a bedrock commitment to the rule of law.”
Yeah maybe this used to be true. Today it is just wishful thinking, a fantasy.
Nothing would surprise me.
I agree
Nothing would surprise me.
Me, either. It’s a long time till Nov.
I said something similar to this about Bill Clinton's re-election possibilities in 1996 and soon found out I didn't know the American voter as well as I thought I did.
meaningless. They have to recommend charges which the DOJ could very well decide to ignore.
I believe that's already happened.
Tag-team: Bill in bunker as Chelsea unleashed on Barack
Chelsea Clinton is taking a cue from her father and bashing President Obama’s record to benefit her mother.
The president’s key accomplishment – Obamacare – is scorned in video footage of the younger Clinton that appears to have been taken March 22 in Washington state. She discusses the “crushing costs” of Obama’s health-care legislation on the campaign trail just one day after former President Bill Clinton lamented the “awful legacy” of the past eight years.
“This was part of my mom’s original plan back in ’93 and ’94, as well as premium costs. We can either do that directly or through tax credits,” the Democrat front-runner’s daughter said Tuesday. “And, kind of figuring out whether she could do that through executive action, or she would need to do that through tax credits working with Congress. She thinks either of those will help solve the challenge of kind of the crushing costs that still exist for too many people, who even are part of the Affordable Care Act and buying insurance.”
The criticism of Obamacare served as a political tag-team against the sitting president, given that Bill Clinton used his time before a Spokane, Washington, audience Monday to lament the political realities that have unfolded since 2008.
http://www.wnd.com/2016/03/tag-team-bill-in-bunker-as-chelsea-unleashed-on-barack/
What’s the use, they’ll end up peeing up a rope. “I wasn’t aware at the time, I wasn’t told, if it was serious certainly someone should have schooled me as to what was expected of me. The documents had no classification when I received them, they should have been marked so I could see them. etc. etc. “ The end result, “Silly Republicans think the voting public would believe these charges, hahahahahahahahahaha”.
It’s a “Good Thing”.
I agree. On account of the server and foundation scandals, HRC either never will be President, or will be impeached after she becomes President. Will she gets what she deserves (which is prison)? Probably not. But I disagree with the handful of freepers who keep posting, “She will skate...nothing will happen...the fix is in...”
The word since last year has been that Bill Clinton has known how dangerous this FBI investigation is, but that HRC’s inner circle has shrugged it off. Any coincidence that now stories are breaking out about how Huma et al are freezing out Slick Willie? For HRC to survive this unscathed — and, again, I don't think she will — someone is going to have to take the fall. Who is it going to be?
There will be NO President Hillary Clinton.
I tend to agree.
I do know that if she would become POTUS, her enemies and opponents would suffer the wrath of her Hell.
Well done!
ACADEMY-AWARD WORTHY---Obama puts on a convincing act.
He "knows nothing." Obama didn't even know about this (snix).
PIC Circa 2010--Ex-Pres Clinton in Moscow having a laugh w/ Putin
as strategic US uranium deposits were sold off to Russia for Big Bucks
facilitated by Secy Clinton, as Bill globe-trotted to set up the deal.
"Hahahaha. US ntl security? Hahahaha. You gotta be kidding, Vlad."
====================================================
With all the top-level intel available to him, can Americans actually believe:
<><>Obama was oblivious to the Clintons jerking around US foreign policy?
<><> Obama knew nothing of Hillary and Sid Blumenthal's emails WRT Iran (the man Obama banned from US govt employment)?
<><> Obama knew nothing about the Clinton Foundation/slush fund buck-raking activities?
<><> Obama never noticed Bill Clinton trotting around the globe?
<><> Obama never noticed the Clinton "charity" used to worm his way into the confidences of foreign leaders.... but only those leaders w/ untapped reserves of gold, uranium, oil, and other valuable commodities?
<><> Obama never knew Hillary's brother got a gold-mining permit in Haiti?
Hand-picked by Obama to run State, Hillary ran it like a shadow govt.... w/ her husband taking notes WRT buck-raking opportunities available from Hillary's actions OR inaction.
Secy Hillary never e-v-e-r uttered a discouraging word e-v-e-r......as the Clinton Foundation sucked up hundred of millions of foreign dollars from shady characters.
OF COURSE, the Clintons/ activities NEVER interfered w/ Obama/s own foreign policy initiatives.
waiting for hysterical laughter to die down.
If Trump is the nominee, she will have a total breakdown before the campaign is over....a Sociopath like Hitlery would NEVER be able to withstand someone who will attack her and not back down.
The latest episode of kabuki theater’s longest running series. “The Dangerous Phase” with special guest Andrew Napolitano. Stay tuned for previews of future shows.
Nothing will happen to Hillary.
Whatever does happen will be blowback against the GOPe.
And woe to anyone who gets too enthusiastic about this matter because Hillary has a long memory and it will soon be her DoJ.
Considering how the State Dept covered for Madam Benghazi and drug their feet, my guess is that she has already gotten all the information - verbatim; and has distributed it to her "aides", so they can coordinate their stories.
Good. It’s about time we get to use the 2nd amendment.
Good read. And lots of good thoughts posted in response.
Thanks!
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