Tag Archives: FBI

crime news

Waiting for FBI to say: POTUS has broken the law

Donald Trump hired his share of clunkers during his term in office, but Christopher Wray, the head of the FBI, is not one of them.

Indeed, Wray has served the nation honorably and with as much dispassion as possible, given the immense pressure he must endure from the right-wing MAGA goon squad that occupies so much of the congressional Republican caucus.

I offer that as my declaration that if FBI director Wray says that the president of the United States has done something wrong, that he has broken the law, that he has done any of the misdeeds associated with the right-wing slime machine … then I’ll believe the crap being tossed around about President Biden.

Does it occur to anyone out there that Wray is a Trump guy, that he is known to be a lifelong Republican, that he harbors no particular favor toward Democrats, let alone to the current president?

None of that seems to matter to the right wingers who insist that Wray is part of the “deep state” who has “weaponized the FBI,” turning it into a cudgel to whip Donald Trump.

He is nothing of the sort. His agency has acted responsibly and within the parameters of the law in seeking evidence involving the former POTUS.

So, until Christopher Wray determines that Joe Biden has committed a crime, I am going to give the phony allegations against him all the attention they deserve.

Which is nothing!

crime news, national news

This is a big … deal!

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Well, they’re going to fingerprint the suspect, take his mug shot and listen to him plead “not guilty” to 37 counts contained in a federal indictment.

That will happen later today. I won’t spend another ounce of effort commenting on the proceeding that will occur later today.

I do want to offer a brief critique on the importance of the criminal suspect. He is the former president of the United States. He once took an oath to “protect and defend” the Constitution and to follow the laws of the land.

The very government he once led has now charged him — and the accusations appear credible — for violating that oath, for breaking the law and for failing to protect and defend the government.

This is gigantic, man!

Almost as horrific, though, has been the initial response of this clown’s supporters. They hadn’t read the indictment and began accusing the FBI and the Justice Department of “weaponizing” the process. They don’t care what the indictment states, or about the immense amount of detail it contains.

So much of the evidence revealed in the indictment, which comes from a grand jury in south Florida (where the suspect lives) is the result of the suspect’s own words. He knew he kept classified documents illegally. He knew he had to turn them over to the National Archives. He knew his lawyers were hamstrung by all of that … but he kept them anyway and then lied to the feds about what he turned over.

Is this man fit for public office? No. He wasn’t fit when he got elected POTUS in 2016 and he damn sure demonstrated his unfitness during his term in office, as he was impeached twice by the House of Representatives.

He has little regard for the troops he commanded, or for the men and women who have given their lives in defense of our way of life.

And yet … he continues to command the fealty of those who follow him blindly into oblivion.

Sickening.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Believe in the system

James Comey has come out of a form of hiding by writing a book of fiction and today was on the air promoting that book.

I want to discuss briefly, though, something that the former FBI director told an MSNBC interviewer about the lengthy, complicated and elaborate examination of allegations leveled against Donald J. Trump.

Comey said today that he believes in the system that is seeking the truth behind the insurrection of 1/6 and on the issue of those classified documents that Trump took with him to Florida when he left office.

The 1/6 insurrection might — or might not — result in a criminal indictment against Trump, according to Comey, who then added that he would accept a “no indictment” decision. Why? Because it’s his belief in the system.

I happen to agree with Comey’s belief in the system that is at work. I have stated already on this blog that if special counsel Jack Smith’s team cannot produce enough evidence to indict Trump on the insurrection — and it is a complicated case, to be sure — then we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that the ex-POTUS won’t be charged.

Now, to be clear, that doesn’t in any way suggest that Trump will walk away from the classified documents probe. Comey said today what others have been saying for some time, that the documents case is the stronger one that Smith is finishing.

We also have the Fulton County, Ga., probe into election interference and the indictment already delivered by the Manhattan, N.Y., grand jury involving the hush money payment to an adult film performer who says she and Trump had a fling in 2006, but that Trump paid her 130 grand to keep quiet … about an event he denies ever occurred! Go figure.

I am not going to join the conspiracy chorus that suggests only an indictment would satisfy them. Do I think Trump should be prosecuted for the insurrection I believe he instigated? Yes!

However, the probe is being handled by seasoned, experienced and hard-bitten pros. It’s their call exclusively. Therefore, I will place my trust in them to come to a just conclusion … even if I disagree with their findings.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

GOP goes after the FBI?

Can this really be happening, that a once-great political party that spoke to the virtues of a strong system of law and order now wants to dismantle the FBI?

Yep. It is happening in real time. Frankly, it astounds me beyond my ability to comprehend.

I have a theory as to why it is occurring. Here goes.

The FBI became the Republican Party’s go-to federal agency when it was investigating anti-Vietnam War protesters, Black activist organizations, those who opposed big business.

These days? The FBI has been active investigating alleged criminal activity among prominent GOP politicians, starting with Donald John Trump. Now we hear yammering from the MAGA crowd and other right-wingers about how the FBI is “weaponizing” law enforcement.

These same GOP pols also are on the record opposing congressional resolutions honoring police and other first responders who acted heroically to — and this is truly astonishing — save the lives of the very politicians on 1/6 who now oppose honoring them!

What the hell is wrong with this picture?

How can it be that the political parties’ roles are so dramatically reversed? Republicans once chided Democrats for being “soft on crime,” for wanting to weaken our law enforcement agencies. These days we hear Democrats beating their chests as champions of democracy and strong police while needling Republicans as belonging to the party that favors foreign autocrats and seeking to disband nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency.

All of this provides one more example of how the principles that govern political policy have changed in such dramatic fashion. So help me, my head is spinning.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

GOP suffers short-term memory loss

Congress’s newly minted Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives clearly is suffering from some form of collective dementia, or amnesia … or at least some short-term memory loss.

The GOP caucus formed this committee assigned with investigating what it calls the “weaponization” of the executive branch by the Democratic administration led by President Biden.

It makes me want to shout: are you fu**ing kidding me?

The Donald Trump administration managed to weaponize the Department of Justice at every turn imaginable. Where was the outrage then among the GOP allies of the disgraced, twice-impeached POTUS? Oh, wait! They cheered the liar on!

Now they want to “investigate” whether the DOJ has “weaponized the FBI” because it sought — and received — permission from a federal judge to look for classified documents in Trump’s home in Florida. What a crock!

Indeed, the very existence of a committee assigned to do what the GOP wants from this panel in itself is a weaponization of the legislative branch of government.

So, for the Republican majority in the House of Representatives to proclaim its piety in search of the truth is laughable on its face. Except no one ought to be laughing.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news, legal news

Why target FBI?

Republicans are preparing to wage war on several fronts against the government they proclaim they want to protect

They have several targets in their sights but for the moment I want to focus on just one of them: the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The FBI used to be considered a sacred cow in GOP political circles. They dared not criticize the elite federal law enforcement agency for fear of being labeled “soft on crime,” or being a squishy liberal.

No more, man.

The FBI is now Public Enemy No. 1 among many Republicans for doing its job legally and by the book. What did the FBI do to incur the GOP wrath?

It acted on orders from the Department of Justice, the attorney general and entered the home of a former president to look for evidence of a possible (or probable) crime. The ex-POTUS took several boxes full of classified documents with him from the White House to his glitzy estate in Florida. AG Merrick Garland sought a federal judge’s permission — also by the book — to search the ex-POTUS’s estate for evidence. The judge granted it and so he sent the agents to the house to conduct the search.

That’s a no-no, according to the GOP stalwarts who defend the ex-POTUS to the hilt. How dare the feds do their job?

They are gunning for the attorney general and — get a load of this! — for the FBI director, Christopher Wray, who was appointed to his post by Donald Trump, the aforementioned ex-POTUS.

Let’s understand a couple of key points.

One is that the attorney general did nothing out of the ordinary. He ran all the necessary traps before authorizing the search at Trump’s estate. He acted within the law. Accordingly, AG Garland has declared that “no one is above the law,” and by “no one,” he means not a single American citizen … and that includes former presidents of the United States.

The FBI has not been “weaponized.” The AG has utilized the law enforcement agency totally within its scope of authority and for Republicans to declare their intention to “defund the FBI” makes a mockery of their criticism of progressives who said the same thing about local police agencies.

The world has been turned upside-down. We need to regain our balance.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald Trump, national news

Trump admits guilt … bring it!

(Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Whoever serves these days as Donald J. Trump’s legal advisers surely must know that they have an imbecile for a client. Why do I say that?

Because … at that rally over the weekend, The Donald took it upon himself to admit to taking documents from the White House and squirreling them away in his glitzy Florida estate. He all but admitted to committing a crime!

Let’s see. I believe that’s what the FBI was seeking to determine when they searched Trump’s home and discovered all those documents. Isn’t that correct?

What’s more, the Donald keeps lying about what transpired when the FBI searched his joint. He suggests it was a “raid.” He implies they forced their way in. He keeps insisting no one knew they were coming. Wrong, wrong and wrong again.

Oh, and he accuses the FBI of “planting” evidence.

Hah! Didn’t happen, Donald.

Any reputable lawyer in the country would advise their client to shut the hell up, to not talk out loud about a pending criminal case. Maybe The Donald’s legal eagles advised him as such. Maybe he ignored them. The Department of Justice is examining whether The Donald broke the law by taking documents from the White House, some of which were marked “top secret.”

Do I need to remind everyone that a conviction of a crime could bring some prison time to the former POTUS?

Whatever the case, the individuals who have taken on the task of defending the indefensible — the taking of classified documents from the White House — now must understand fully what millions of Americans know already.

The former president of the United States — in the words of former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — is a fu**ing moron!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news, local news, national news

FBI scorned by GOP? Wow!

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I keep holding Ronny Jackson up for ridicule. Hey, I have good reason to do so. He represents a region of Texas and in just less than two years in office has managed to become a golden boy among right-wing media outlets.

Here is what Rep. Jackson, a Republican, said today via Twitter about the FBI.

I don’t trust anything that the FBI tries to pin on Trump. They are a rotten secret police force at the service of Biden’s hyper-political agenda. All lies and deception!

Hmm. The FBI no longer is dedicated to protecting our national security or rooting out corruption or solving federal crimes … or so says Ronny Jackson. It’s a tool of a Democratic president, he says.

This clown is unhinged.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news, legal news, national news, national security

Is she a ‘Trump judge’?

Donald J. Trump’s past blathering about “Obama judges” and “Clinton judges” ruling against him in various legal battles gives me pause as I try to weigh the legal significance of a federal judge who has ruled in the ex-president’s favor in his fight with the FBI over those classified documents he squirreled away at his Florida estate.

Legal and constitutional scholars have been quick to condemn Trump’s assertion that those decisions with which he disagrees are the result of the political leanings of the judges who delivered them. They have said that judges take solemn oaths to be faithful to the Constitution and that’s what they have done in issuing their rulings.

Now we have a Trump-appointed federal judge — Aileen Cannon — deciding that it’s OK to appoint a special master to pore through the documents seized by the FBI in its search for possible criminal evidence.

The Justice Department argued against the appointment of such a special master. It well could appeal the decision by Judge Cannon.

But I am left to ponder something. If the ex-POTUS is going to rant and rail against judges who happen to occupy their seat on the bench because they are appointed by political rivals of his, is it OK for others to do the same thing when a Trump-appointed judge issues a key ruling in the former president’s favor?

Just askin’, man.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news, national news

Trump gets special master … what’s next?

Do not look for me or listen for my voice among those who might be inclined to complain about a federal judge’s decision to grant Donald Trump’s request for a special master to investigate the FBI seizure of records from Trump’s posh Florida estate.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon is a Trump appointee and today she ruled that a special master can be selected to examine claims of lawyer-client privilege as Trump seeks to block the probe into why he took classified documents from the White House to his glitzy estate in south Florida.

I am going to presume that Cannon is following the law as she sees fit. She ruled that the investigation by Congress and the Justice Department will continue and that she doesn’t see any overly long delay coming up as the courts look for a special master.

I do have one worry, which is that Cannon might bend to the idiocy being pitched that Trump is entitled to “executive privilege,” even though many other judges have ruled that as a former POTUS … he does not! Trump is declaring that he does enjoy that privilege, despite the fact that he left office in January 2021 and that, as one judge noted in an earlier ruling that “we only have one president at a time.” Trump ain’t it.

But, as The Hill reported: Prosecutors also said Trump could not claim executive privilege as a former president against the current executive branch, but Cannon said the DOJ’s position “arguably overstates the law.”

Judge grants Trump’s request to appoint special master to review Mar-a-Lago documents | The Hill

I am going to offer a word of hope that we can get this special master issue settled, get someone appointed, have that individual make rulings in a timely manner and that we can get to the bottom of the “probable cause” for criminality that resulted in the FBI search classified documents.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, to my way of thinking, has the goods to indict Trump on several counts. The question now becomes, will he get the chance to exercise his own constitutional authority?

The special master ploy mustn’t get in the AG’s way.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com