Trump Retribution Phase | Brennan investigation

  • Thread starter Thread starter nycfan
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies: 1K
  • Views: 45K
  • Politics 

FBI fires special agent who helped oversee Trump investigation, sources say​



“… Aaron Tapp, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Antonio office, was previously the deputy assistant director of the Criminal Investigative Division at FBI headquarters. There for a time he had oversight of probes into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

One of these investigations — known as Arctic Frost — focused on the fake electors scheme, in which Trump allies sought to have Trump electors counted as electoral college votes from states that Joe Biden won.

… In recent weeks, Republicans have released FBI records showing details of the Arctic Frost investigation and accused Smith and FBI leaders of political motives in using grand jury subpoenas to obtain phone records of nine GOP lawmakers. The records, obtained in 2023, covered four days surrounding the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot . The FBI didn’t obtain the contents of the calls. Smith has denied any political motives and said the subpoenas were routine investigative tools.

Tapp has been with the FBI for more than 20 years, according to his bio on the FBI’s website.…”
 

Prosecutors Urge Judge to Rebuff Comey’s Bid to Dismiss Case​

The filing appeared to be an effort to construct a narrative that James B. Comey had leaked information to the news media without actually tying such assertions to the claims made in the indictment against him.

www.nytimes.com

Prosecutors Urge Judge to Rebuff Comey’s Bid to Dismiss Case

The filing appeared to be an effort to construct a narrative that James B. Comey had leaked information to the news media without actually tying such assertions to the claims made in the indictment against him.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

“The federal prosecutors pursuing a criminal case against James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, disclosed evidence on Monday, including private emails, showing that he used a confidant to provide information to reporters — even though it was difficult to tell how some of the evidence was relevant to the specific charges detailed in the case.

The evidence was included in a 48-page filing that appeared to be an effort to construct a narrative that Mr. Comey had leaked information to the news media without actually tying such assertions to the allegations made in the indictment brought against him.

… Last month, lawyers for Mr. Comey accused President Trump of improperly ordering the Justice Department to prosecute him out of a deep personal animus reaching back to May 2017, when he was fired as F.B.I. director while overseeing the Trump-Russia investigation.

The lawyers pointed to the extraordinary origins of the case: a public message on social media in which Mr. Trump ordered his attorney general, Pam Bondi, to go after Mr. Comey, one of his most reviled adversaries.

… While Mr. Comey’s lawyers described Mr. Trump’s social media message as “smoking-gun evidence” of vindictiveness, the prosecutors argued it was “hardly evidence at all” and merely part of “a mix of news reports, social-media posts and speculation” used to accuse the president of bias.

… The new filing also disclosed an insinuating piece of evidence that did not appear to be related to either of the two charges detailed in the indictment. It instead appears related to a third charge that Ms. Halligan tried to bring against Mr. Comey, but that a grand jury rejected.

That involved a memo the C.I.A. sent to the F.B.I. on Sept. 7, 2016, containing intelligence about Russia’s interference in that year’s campaign.

… At the September 2020 hearing, a senator had asked Mr. Comey about the memo, but Mr. Comey said he had no memory of seeing it. The third charge Ms. Halligan tried to bring was over whether Mr. Comey lied in saying that.

The new filing said the F.B.I. had recently found handwritten notes from Mr. Comey, dated Sept. 26, 2016, that read: “HRC plan to tie Trump.”

Even though that appeared to refer to Mrs. Clinton, it is not clear why those notes would support the failed charge, since they do no mention the Sept. 7 memo at issue. It has long been public that Mr. Comey knew about the allegation itself because he was present for a briefing in August at which it was mentioned.“
 

Justice Dept. defends Lindsey Halligan against unlawful-appointment criticism​

Federal lawyers said Attorney General Pam Bondi designated Halligan as a “special attorney” to the Justice Department.


“… The department attorneys said Attorney General Pam Bondi designated Halligan last week as a “special attorney” to the Justice Department, assigned to oversee the cases against former FBI director James B. Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Lawyers for Comey and James have urged a federal judge to dismiss the charges against them on grounds that Halligan was unlawfully installed as U.S. attorney in September and has no authority to prosecute them.

“Whatever her title, Ms. Halligan is still an ‘attorney for the government’ authorized to conduct grand jury proceedings and sign indictments,” Henry C. Whitaker, a counselor to Bondi, wrote in court filings Monday.…
 


“… Fitzpatrick vented frustration at the Justice Department’s inability to characterize how it had handled the search warrant materials, both during the original review of the Russia probe and its more recent effort to charge Comey. He ordered prosecutors to turn over all of it to Comey’s defense lawyers by close of business Thursday.

Fitzpatrick also demanded that DOJ simultaneously provide Comey all records of the grand jury proceedings that led to his indictment, so he can determine if any potentially privileged information was used to secure the charges.

…
Fitzpatrick isn’t the only jurist looking skeptically at the government’s case against Comey.

U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie has similarly ordered prosecutors to provide her with transcripts of Halligan’s grand jury appearance as she weighs whether the Trump-picked prosecutor was invalidly appointed — a decision that could sink the case altogether. U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, who would preside over a potential trial scheduled for early January, has emphasized his intention to move the case ahead quickly.

Comey’s attorneys, including former federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, said they intend to stick to the expedited trial schedule despite challenges combing through massive troves of evidence. That evidence includes reams of classified information that Fitzgerald said he has not been able to review because of a delay in obtaining a security clearance.…”
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top