Tag Archives: FBI

legal news

McCabe gets canned and AG shows his heartlessness

I totally understand that this analogy might be a stretch, but I’ll toss it out there anyway. Andrew McCabe’s firing today by Attorney General Jeff Sessions — just two days before he was to retire from the FBI — reminds me a vaguely of the convict who gets a stay of execution as he is being led into the death chamber.

Sessions canned McCabe on the recommendation of an inspector general report that said he should be terminated because of alleged lack of candor while allowing FBI officials to talk to the media.

The firing now deprives McCabe of the retirement he had earned through two decades working for the FBI.

Think of this for a moment. The former deputy FBI director likely deserved some punishment for his indiscretion. Did he deserve to fired at the 11th hour just prior to his pending retirement? Let me think. I don’t believe he did.

Donald Trump wanted McCabe fired. McCabe has been a key player in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Russian meddling in our 2016 presidential election. McCabe now says his firing is meant to undermine Mueller’s probe. He is understandably furious with the attorney general.

“Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey,” McCabe wrote in a lengthy statement commenting on his firing.

I had hoped Sessions would let McCabe retire. I also had hoped Sessions would demonstrate his desire to depart the Trump administration by bucking the president’s desire to see McCabe get the boot.

I was wrong all around. I also am having difficulty trying to understand why he would be canned and, thus, denied the pension he had earned while serving the public.

And the timing of the firing … well, it speaks loudly and so very clearly about the character of the people at the top of this presidential administration.

national news

AG cans deputy FBI director … damn!

This blog post has been updated

Well, silly me. I thought Jeff Sessions might have a shred of decency and courage to do the right thing.

It’s being reported just now that the attorney general has fired deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, which deprives him of the pension to which he had been entitled as a career public servant.

I guess the AG is more afraid of the president than I thought.

Shameful.

***

Andrew McCabe is just a couple days away from retirement from the FBI. Or … he might get fired because he was less than fully truthful in dealing with federal investigators.

Firing this career public servant would deprive him of his retirement and possibly his health care. The ball is now in the lap of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

I hope the AG doesn’t fire McCabe, who has been a frequent critic of none other than Donald John Trump Sr., the president of the United States and the man with the thinnest skin of any world leader in history.

Here’s why I have this feeling in my gut that Sessions will let McCabe retire.

Sessions might want to p** the president off so much that he gets fired by Trump, thus relieving him of the turmoil, tempest and constant disabuse that the president himself levels at the attorney general.

Trump wants McCabe to be canned. It’s up to Sessions to do the president’s bidding, or to do what I consider the right thing by merely letting the deputy FBI boss retire and ride off into the sunset.

Firing him now, with so little time before he retires, would be the epitome of heartlessness. That is Trump’s style. I have no clue if that is Sessions’s style as well. McCabe has made some mistakes and perhaps he deserves some punishment. He also happens to have immense support within the FBI and his firing could result in an eruption among the field agents and administrators who work inside the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building in Washington.

My trick knee tells me that the attorney general just might have had his fill of working within the chaos and confusion that continues to define the Donald Trump administration — which might portend a decision to defy the president.

legal news, national news, political news

Who should we trust in this battle of wills?

Whenever the president of the United States challenges the credibility of the special counsel assigned to examine alleged collusion with Russian hackers, I believe I will think first of the article I have attached to this blog post.

The Washington Post article goes into great detail about the similarities and the differences between Donald John Trump and Robert Swan Mueller III.

When the president suggests that the former FBI director is unfit to conduct a probe into “The Russia Thing,” it would be good to understand from where both these men came and the choices they have made.

The Post piece tells of how they both were born into wealth. They both attended private schools. They attended Ivy League universities.

One of them chose after college to get into his father’s business. The other — pained by the Vietnam War combat death of a lifelong friend — chose to enlist in the Marine Corps and report for duty in the war that killed his friend.

Trump built a fabulous business and entertainment career with help from his father. Mueller decided to pursue a career in public service — starting with his duty on battlefields far from the comforts of home.

Trump has become a loudmouth and a braggart. Mueller became something quite different; he rarely talks about himself in public.

Trump got elected president of the United States amid considerable consternation over whether he is up to the job. Mueller got selected for the special counsel job of investigating the Trump campaign’s allegedly improper ties to Russian hackers amid universal praise and acclaim that he was the perfect man for his new job.

The investigation is ongoing. Mueller isn’t going to divulge when he intends to finish it. He will keep plowing straight ahead. He won’t be deterred by efforts to derail, divert, deflect, degrade and disparage his investigation.

I will place my faith in the career prosecutor rather than a novice politician whose entire professional life has been built on self-enrichment and self-aggrandizement.

International news

Actually, Obama did act on Russian meddling

Donald Trump went on a Twitter tirade over the weekend and in the process he managed to tweet out yet another lie.

I know. It’s just so hard to believe. Right? Actually, well … no. It isn’t. It’s Trump’s modus operandi.

While he was blasting former President Barack H. Obama, Democrats, the FBI, Hillary Clinton, H.R. McMaster and the media in the wake of the indictments over the Russian election meddling, the president accused his predecessor of doing nothing about the Russians.

Actually, sir, President Obama did do something.

I feel the need to remind Trump of that. Except that he knows it already, which makes his misstatement yet another outright lie.

Obama looked Russian strongman Vladimir Putin in the eye and told him to quit interfering in our electoral process. Then the president signed an executive order that booted several Russian diplomats out of the country, forced the closure of Russian diplomatic property and imposed strict economic sanctions on the Russians.

He sought to punish the Russians for doing what the intelligence community has confirmed what they did.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has indicted several Russians and three Russian companies for their role in the 2016 election interference. Both houses of Congress approved — with overwhelming majorities — toughened sanctions on Russia, only to have the president decline to agree to them.

In that light, Donald Trump has the gall to say that Barack Obama has done “nothing” to punish the Russians?

Liar.

media news, national news

Yet another tragedy falls victim to politics

Donald Trump’s incessant use of Twitter could enable him to use the social medium to comfort and console families suffering from unspeakable grief.

Yes, the president did offer his “thoughts and prayers” to families and other loved ones in the wake of the Parkland, Fla., school massacre on Valentine’s Day.

Then he followed up with a tweet over the weekend that reveals, in my mind, the kind of person Trump really is.

He blamed the FBI for failing to respond to tips about the alleged shooter because the agency was “too busy” investigating the Trump presidential campaign’s alleged collusion with Russian hackers who meddled in our 2016 presidential election.

There you have it. When the president is handed an opportunity to criticize law enforcement, by golly he jumps all over it — even when the criticism is juxtaposed with a nation’s grief over another spasm of gun violence.

The president has drawn criticism from politicians of both parties over this response. Will it sink in? Will he heed what members of his own party are saying? Hah! Hardly.

Does this man have any sense of decency? Any sense of shame? Any sense of compassion or empathy? I concluded long ago the answer is an unequivocal “no!”

Sickening.

International news, national news

Trump keeps firing at the wrong targets

Donald Trump launched yet another Twitter tirade this weekend.

He went after Democrats, the media (including CNN in particular), President Obama and — this is extraordinary — his national security adviser and the FBI. The reason for the tirade? Russian meddling in our most recent presidential election.

Who did the president leave out of his barrage of criticism? Let me think. Oh, yes! The Russians!

Trump didn’t tweet a single word about the Russian meddling. He didn’t convey a single tiny bit of anger — let alone profound outrage — that the Russians launched an attack on our electoral system. He didn’t say anything about whether he would take measures to punish the Russians for their meddling and their attempt to sway the results in his favor.

The tweet storm came in the wake of special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictments of 13 Russians for their role in the meddling. National security adviser H.R. McMaster said the indictments provide “incontrovertible proof” that the Russians did what the intelligence experts say they did. The FBI got pounded because it is spending “too much time” on Russia and too little time following up leads such as those it got about the Parkland, Fla., shooter. CNN got trashed because it reported on the indictments. Barack Obama got pounded because the meddling occurred while he was president. Democrats in general were pounded because, as Trump has asserted, they have cooked up this “Russia thing” because they lost a presidential election they were supposed to win.

The president of the United States once again has demonstrated that he doesn’t understand his fundamental duty, which is to protect our nation against our adversaries.

What is up with this man? I’m beginning to believe he has a serious man-crush on Vladimir Putin, the Russian president/strongman/former KGB boss.

That man-crush is allowing Putin to laugh out loud inside the Kremlin walls at the president of the United States, who promised to “make America great again.” He has succeeded in making America an international punch line.

national news

No need for FBI boss to resign

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is understandably enraged.

I cannot blame the Republican politician for his anger that the FBI failed to act on multiple tips it had on the young man charged with murdering 17 people in Parkland, Fla. on Valentine’s Day.

However, he needs to dial his rage back just a notch, maybe two. He has called on FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign because of his agency’s failure to respond to the tips it received.

Wray does not need to quit. Why? His agency is being undermined at virtually every turn by none other than the president of the United States. The very last thing the FBI needs is for its director to quit, to create yet another leadership vacuum at a time when the nation’s law enforcement/intelligence community is under attack.

What is most troubling to me is that these attacks are coming from within our borders. Donald Trump seeks to undermine the FBI’s credibility by lambasting its leadership; meantime, congressional Republicans have joined that chorus as well, by blasting the FBI over alleged bias in its probe into Russian interference in our 2016 presidential election.

I, too, am angry that the FBI didn’t act when it received credible tips that the Parkland shooting suspect had plans to become a “professional” assassin. The FBI didn’t connect the dots. It didn’t do its job.

Is that Christopher Wray’s fault? Should he take the fall now while his agency already is reeling from attacks launched by — of all people — the nation’s president?

Absolutely not! Let the man get to work repairing the breakdown that resulted in such tragedy.

Uncategorized

Waiting for outrage from White House

I won’t hold my breath waiting for Donald J. Trump to say what needs to be said about Russian meddling in our nation’s electoral process.

The president should declare his outrage and must insist that we take measures to ensure that this kind of political aggression from a foreign adversary never happens again.

He won’t say it. Of that I am increasingly certain.

What’s more, his refusal to declare such outrage makes me question whether this man actually places protecting the nation he governs above all else.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has indicted 13 Russians and three Russian companies for their role in interfering in our 2016 presidential election. The 37-page indictment does not alleged “collusion” from the Trump campaign; nor does it say that the Russian interference determined the outcome.

That was the focus of the president’s initial response. He said the indictments vindicate his campaign. He declared there was “no collusion!” yet again.

Meanwhile, national security adviser H.R. McMaster says the indictment provides “incontrovertible proof” that the Russians launched a campaign against our electoral system. They committed an act of aggression. They sought to sow discord and discontent among Americans. They succeeded!

Where in the world is the outrage from the man at the top? When is he ever going to declare virtual war against foreign powers who think they can mess with our political system?

The president took an oath to defend the United States. He swore to place our national interests above all else. Indeed, he campaigned on a pledge to “put America first.”

The president’s continuing refusal to state his intention to end this kind of meddling is a fundamental violation of that oath.

Disgraceful.

International news

Spooks say it again: Russia meddled in 2016!

The nation’s leading intelligence agency heads all sat in a row in front of a congressional committee.

Then they all said the same thing: Russia interfered in our 2016 presidential election and they intend to do the same thing during our 2018 midterm election.

There you have it.

Except that the men’s boss, the president of the United States, isn’t buying it. Donald John Trump continues to insist that it’s not yet proven that Russia meddled. The president, moreover, says that Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, told him he had no hand in the meddling. Trump apparently has bought into Putin’s denial … as if the Russian strongman is going to say a single thing different.

The Hill reports: “There should be no doubt that Russia perceived its past efforts as successful and views the 2018 midterm elections as a potential target for Russian influence operations,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said during his opening remarks at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.

He also warned lawmakers that Moscow is “likely to pursue even more aggressive cyberattacks” against future elections in an effort to undermine U.S. democracy.

I don’t need to remind anyone — but I guess I will anyhow — that Coats is no squishy Democratic liberal. He’s a former Republican senator from Indiana, whom Trump appointed to lead the national intelligence team.

I think I’ll accept Coats’ version of what he and the others — including the director of the FBI and the CIA — are saying about Russia’s acknowledged effort to subvert the U.S. electoral process.

If only the president himself would admit the obvious.

If only …

national news

Key aides disserve POTUS and the nation

Believe this or not, but I am going to give Donald J. Trump the benefit of the doubt on the latest tempest that is sweeping through the White House.

The president said he learned only recently of Rob Porter’s record of spousal abuse. I want to believe him. Indeed, I actually am inclined to do so. Porter quit his post as staff secretary to the president when it became known that he had beat up his two former wives and a former girlfriend.

The bad guys here appear to be two of Trump’s closest aides: chief of staff John Kelly and White House counsel Donald McGahn.

We have seen considerable credible reporting that suggests Kelly and McGahn knew about Porter’s alleged wife- and girlfriend-beating a year ago, but kept it quiet. The FBI had received complaints and were holding up Porter’s top secret security clearance because of the probe it was conducting into the allegations. And yet, absent the security clearance he needed given the hyper-sensitive nature of the documents he handled, Porter got hired anyway.

Kelly says he know only recently about the “full details” of the allegations? McGahn, too? Please. These men appear to have kept vital information from the man who is supposed to know these things.

Kelly should depart the White House. I say that with regret. I had high hopes that the retired Marine Corps general would rub off on the mess he inherited when he moved from Homeland Security secretary to the West Wing. It hasn’t happened. Indeed, it seems he has taken on some of the president’s more unpleasant characteristics, such as dismissing accusations leveled by women against men.

As for McGahn, he recently received praise for reportedly threatening to quit if Trump fired special counsel Robert Mueller, who is conducting his investigation into the “Russia thing.” Now it appears McGahn has joined the cabal of secret-keepers operating within the White House. He needs to hit the road, too.

As for the president, I remain committed to my extreme antipathy toward him on manner of issues and behavior.

On this matter, though, it looks to me as though he — and the nation — have been served badly by two men who should have spilled the beans on their colleague’s spouse-beating history.