DOJ Wingmen of Trump's Persecutor Jack Smith Shut Down An Investigation Into the Fraudulent Funding for Hillary Clinton's Russiagate Op

You don't say.

It's almost as if they're one big criminal gang.

Justice Department leaders later tied to agency special counsel Jack Smith shut down an FBI investigation tied to possible campaign finance violations carried out by Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign when it used cutouts to fund the opposition research firm Fusion GPS and British ex-spy Christopher Steele's anti-Trump dossier, emails released Thursday appear to show.

Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassely, said his Judiciary Committee, which made public the messages, describes them as "internal emails" and an "electronic communication" from the FBI "exposing" the "refusal" by DOJ leaders "to open a criminal investigation into potential campaign finance violations committed by Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee."

Grassley's office said that this potential criminal inquiry by the bureau was shut down "despite FBI agents' demonstration of a fact-pattern showing Clinton and the DNC intentionally concealed payments to inappropriately target then-candidate Donald Trump."

As you may remember, Hillary Clinton lied in her FEC filings when she claimed that the money used to pay FusionGPS and Christopher Steele for the fake dossier was used for "legal services."

You know, straight-up lying on required federal election disclosures.

Wait a tic, isn't that what Trump supposedly did with his Sloppy Daniels "payoff" money...?

Well, anyway, the DOJ shut this investigation down.

No "intent," I imagine. Just a whoops-whoopsie sitch.

Except... wait, Hillary and Marc Elias lied for years, claiming they didn't have anything to do with the dossier.

Which would suggest this wasn't a "whoops-whoopsie" sitch at all, but another crime committed in service of a common criminal enterprise.

Hm. Now I don't know what to think!

Grassley's office pointed out that in 2022 the Federal Election Commission had "fined Clinton and the DNC for disguising campaign expenditures to pay Fusion GPS, a political opposition research firm, to craft the debunked Steele Dossier, which falsely alleged that Trump was colluding with Russia."

The Federal Election Commission ruled in 2022 there was "probable cause" to believe Hillary for America and the DNC violated federal laws by "misreporting the purpose of certain disbursements" and fined them.

The FEC said the DNC paid $849,407 and the Clinton campaign paid $175,000 to Perkins Coie for what was alleged in a complaint to be "opposition research done by Fusion." The Clinton campaign falsely reported the purpose of all those payments as "legal services" while the DNC reported the purpose of most of those payments as "legal and compliance consulting."

...

Perkins Coie was paid more than $12 million between 2016 and 2017 for its work representing Clinton and the DNC. According to Fusion co-founder Glenn Simpson, Fusion was paid $50,000 per month from Perkins Coie. Elias testified it was $60,000 each month. Fusion claimed that it paid Steele $168,000 for his work. Perkins Coie claimed Fusion approached them in March 2016 while knowing that Perkins Coie represented Clinton's campaign.

...

Grassley also said Thursday that "the decision to decline the investigation" into the Clinton campaign and the DNC was made by Richard Pilger, then a leader in the DOJ's Public Integrity Section, and by J.P. Cooney, who was working at the time within the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.

Grassley noted that Pilger "was later pivotal in reviewing and approving the opening of Smith's Arctic Frost investigation" while Cooney "served as Smith's Deputy Special Counsel for that investigation."

So they nixed an investigation into Hillary Clinton's obvious federal fraud, but couldn't wait to improve a surveillance dragnet and fishing expedition into more than a dozen GOP senators and House members.

"These records show the same partisans who rushed to cover for Clinton rabidly pursued Arctic Frost, which was a runaway train aimed directly at President Trump and the Republican political apparatus. I appreciate Attorney General Bondi and FBI Director Patel's efforts to turn over the information I requested, and I'll continue investigating this matter."

Related: Paul Sperry wrote this earlier in the week. I've been waiting for more details or an article, but he hasn't published yet.

So this is all I have about it for now, but I think it's worth reading:

Paul Sperry @paulsperry_

NEW: In presenting evidence in a motion to the court as part of its perjury defense, James Comey's legal team altered two words in a transcript of his 2020 Senate testimony to make it seem as if Sen. Ted Cruz asked Comey a key question he didnt actually ask him during the hearing

Well that doesn't sound like the James Comey I know.

Below: A psychiatrist says that some of his patients are experiencing genuine problems in their lives due to Trump derangement.

This really should go in The Week in Woke, but that is already stuffed. So enjoy this one early.

Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh

🚨 HOLY CRAP! Psychotherapists are now seeing the effects of Trump DERANGEMENT Syndrome in their patients

"I had one patient who couldn't enjoy vacation because she saw Trump on her device or news, and felt triggered."

Omg...

"Some of the features of this 'disorder': They can't sleep. They feel traumatized by Mr. Trump."

"Trump is the trigger for many of these people. To be that fixated on a person, it's simply not healthy."

"This is a profound pathology. I would even go far as to say the defining pathology of our time."

Rosie O'Donnell is one KEY example of one of the first major cases of TDS.

I think psychiatrists say that what separates a character quirk from a psychological problem is whether it interferes with your ability to enjoy your life and accomplish your goals or not.

And it sounds like Trump Derangement is definitely interfering with these sickos' ability to lead normal lives.

So it's an official psycho-pathology.

posted by Ace at 03:10 PM

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