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I'm no fan of Comey, but it appears that FBI managers were. Interesting read of FOIA-obtained material.
barfo
barfo
Free Agent FBI reaction to Comey firing
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Yeah, I think I'll take the word of current FBI employees over that of one guy who last worked there 20 years ago and is an extreme partisan. What else ya got?
barfo
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The guy who worked there 20 years ago doesn't know anything about the FBI, eh?
I am quite sure you can find guys like Strzok who will support what you want to hear.
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I didn't say he doesn't know anything. I just think that multiple current employees know more than him about the current state of the FBI.
barfo
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Strzok clones.
Good for the writer finding only those guys to interview. Or only those guys to include in the article.
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Apparently you didn't read the article. Or my post about it.
Otherwise you'd know it wasn't an interview. They obtained their emails via FOIA requests and published everything they received.
barfo
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I know a very prominent former FBI agent who very much respected Comey and was dismayed at his departure and the way it was handled. I'm sure that there are people associated with the FBI who have varying views, just like you will find in any organization.
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"everything"
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Exactly this.
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Yes, literally everything. You'd see that they linked to the FOIA response, if you bothered to read the article, which you obviously haven't.
Now I'll let MarAzul have the last word.
barfo
MarAzul
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Is it virtuous to have the last say in a thread?
SportsAndWhine
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Yes.
MARIS61
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Former Assistant to The Director of The FBI, Chris Swecker.
Here's his creds, including huge praise from Robert Mueller:
FBI Director Announces Retirement of Chris Swecker, Assistant Director for the Criminal Investigative Division and Acting Executive Assistant Director for Law Enforcement Services
Washington, D.C. May 02, 2006
Washington D.C. - FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III, today announced that Chris Swecker, Assistant Director for the Criminal Investigative Division and Acting Executive Assistant Director (EAD) for Law Enforcement Services will retire from the Bureau to pursue an opportunity in the private sector, effective July 13, 2006.
Director Mueller said, "Chris Swecker has made tremendous contributions to this institution and to the safety and security of the American people. He served as the on-scene commander of the FBI operations in Iraq, managed the dismantlement of a Hizballah terror cell in Charlotte, North Carolina, and oversaw the investigation and capture of top ten fugitive Eric Robert Rudolph. Under his leadership, the FBI has improved oversight of and support for criminal investigations, and brought new levels of sophistication to the use of intelligence in criminal investigations. He strengthened priority programs to fight public corruption, transnational criminal enterprises, and violent gangs, and worked to protect our children and cherished civil rights. Under his direction, the Criminal Investigative Division increased its public corruption efforts by 250 Agents, opened 30 new gang task forces, and established specialized child abduction response teams.
"I would like to thank him for the sacrifices he has made and for his many contributions to protect and serve the American people."
Mr. Swecker entered on duty with the FBI as a Special Agent on June 13, 1982, and served in the Charlotte, North Carolina, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, field offices. He served as a supervisor in the Civil Litigation Unit, Legal Counsel Division, at FBI Headquarters, as acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) in Miami, as ASAC in Houston, and as an Inspector, Inspection Division. He served as Special Agent in Charge of the Charlotte, North Carolina, Field Office from March 23, 1999, until July 7, 2004, when he was named to be Assistant Director for CID. He has served as Acting EAD for Law Enforcement Services since February 1, 2006.
Mr. Swecker is married and has three daughters. He is a member of the North Carolina and Virginia State Bars, and admitted to practice before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Below are Chris Swecker's opinions on Comey and the memo's release and contents:
Shocking memo reveals how Comey disgraced an honorable FBI
The information contained in the memo released by House Republicans on Friday that accused FBI and Justice Department officials of improperly obtaining permission to surveil a former Trump campaign adviser shows a tragic failure of leadership on the part of former FBI Director James Comey.
But importantly, the memo does not in any way reflect on the outstanding work of the more than 35,000 dedicated men and women of the FBI.
It pains me – as a former FBI executive who loves and respects the organization – to say that Comey’s short tenure at the FBI has proven to be the worst thing to happen to the agency since L. Patrick Gray withdrew his nomination for FBI Director and resigned from the Bureau during the Watergate scandal.
If the facts stated in the memo are true – despite the highly political nature of congressional committees – then there was either incompetent or deliberate manipulation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court to get approval of the surveillance.
Even new agent trainees at the FBI Academy know better than to use paid opposition research and newspaper articles to support use of one of the most sensitive and intrusive surveillance techniques in the investigative toolbox. If they do use such information, the FISA judge should have been apprised of the origins of the research.
FBI agents are also taught to never mislead any court of law. It’s unlikely the surveillance warrant would have been issued if the FISA judge was aware that political opponents (the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee) had financed the information used to obtain approval of the surveillance.
FISA applications go through extensive reviews at multiple levels of executive management at the FBI and Justice Department. They are signed by the most senior FBI and Justice Department executives before they are presented to the FISA court for approval.
The 2016 FISA approvals in question were signed by none other than FBI Director Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. The buck stops there. They were the top two officials in the FBI at the time.
McCabe, enabled by Comey, created an attitude among his inner circle that flaunted well- established laws and regulations. Comey usurped the role of the Justice Department in publicly exonerating Hillary Clinton from wrongdoing in her handling of government emails when she was secretary of state.
At the same time, Comey took highly conflicted Attorney General Loretta Lynch off the hook to formally recuse herself from the Hillary Clinton probe as a result of Lynch’s own inexcusable and inept conduct in meeting former President Bill Clinton while his wife was under Justice Department and FBI investigation.
With his conduct, Comey set in motion a cascading set of events that resulted in the FBI becoming a pawn in a political firestorm. He justified making up his own rules because he felt righteous.
Comey permitted leaks and allowed bias to infect two of the most important investigations ever conducted by the FBI. He clearly permitted his lead investigative agent to predetermine the outcome of the Clinton investigation, while allowing the agent’s biased actions and anti-Trump texts to complicate the role of Special Counsel Robert Mueller in actually getting to the truth of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page – who were carrying on a romantic affair when they traded numerous text criticizing then-candidate Trump – are now star witnesses for the defense in any indictments that come out of Mueller’s office.
Mueller is an honest, fair and non-political professional who took a bullet for his country as a Marine in Vietnam. He is our best chance to learn the truth. And the truth should be good enough for everyone. He served for 12 years as FBI director with many accomplishments, no terrorist attacks on his watch and not a hint of controversy.
Current FBI Director Chris Wray has now taken the helm and is trying his best to right the ship. This is no time for him to resign. He has a lot to overcome in a very difficult task. He must maintain his independence from the president while navigating political controversy coming at him from every direction.
Wray is very deliberately cleaning out the remnants of the Comey cabal on the FBI’s 7th Floor. He has apparently been given a preview of the Department of Justice inspector general’s investigation of the conduct of several FBI officials during the Clinton investigation. This inspector general is the same person who outed the Strzok and Page texts.
Now information is circulating that the Republican memo made public is just the tip of the iceberg. Ex-FBI Agents are picking up information that the inspector general’s report will be far more graphic in detailing the misconduct of McCabe, Strzok and others more serious that what is in the memo released Friday.
The Republican congressional memo outlines potentially serious misconduct on the part of the Comey leadership team. Going forward, the FBI should err on the side of transparency. Director Wray should make every effort to declassify the documents and affidavit supporting surveillance approved by the FISA Court.
Such information has been released before. It is better for the FBI to release the information than to have it come from a political body like Congress. Let the public decide for themselves without political spin.
The American people, Congress and the president should sit back and allow Special Counsel Mueller to do his work. This nation has an interest in making sure that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intelligence thugs and mobbed-up oligarchs do not influence our political processes.
It’s time to find out what really happened.
Here's his creds, including huge praise from Robert Mueller:
FBI Director Announces Retirement of Chris Swecker, Assistant Director for the Criminal Investigative Division and Acting Executive Assistant Director for Law Enforcement Services
Washington, D.C. May 02, 2006
Washington D.C. - FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III, today announced that Chris Swecker, Assistant Director for the Criminal Investigative Division and Acting Executive Assistant Director (EAD) for Law Enforcement Services will retire from the Bureau to pursue an opportunity in the private sector, effective July 13, 2006.
Director Mueller said, "Chris Swecker has made tremendous contributions to this institution and to the safety and security of the American people. He served as the on-scene commander of the FBI operations in Iraq, managed the dismantlement of a Hizballah terror cell in Charlotte, North Carolina, and oversaw the investigation and capture of top ten fugitive Eric Robert Rudolph. Under his leadership, the FBI has improved oversight of and support for criminal investigations, and brought new levels of sophistication to the use of intelligence in criminal investigations. He strengthened priority programs to fight public corruption, transnational criminal enterprises, and violent gangs, and worked to protect our children and cherished civil rights. Under his direction, the Criminal Investigative Division increased its public corruption efforts by 250 Agents, opened 30 new gang task forces, and established specialized child abduction response teams.
"I would like to thank him for the sacrifices he has made and for his many contributions to protect and serve the American people."
Mr. Swecker entered on duty with the FBI as a Special Agent on June 13, 1982, and served in the Charlotte, North Carolina, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, field offices. He served as a supervisor in the Civil Litigation Unit, Legal Counsel Division, at FBI Headquarters, as acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) in Miami, as ASAC in Houston, and as an Inspector, Inspection Division. He served as Special Agent in Charge of the Charlotte, North Carolina, Field Office from March 23, 1999, until July 7, 2004, when he was named to be Assistant Director for CID. He has served as Acting EAD for Law Enforcement Services since February 1, 2006.
Mr. Swecker is married and has three daughters. He is a member of the North Carolina and Virginia State Bars, and admitted to practice before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Below are Chris Swecker's opinions on Comey and the memo's release and contents:
Shocking memo reveals how Comey disgraced an honorable FBI
The information contained in the memo released by House Republicans on Friday that accused FBI and Justice Department officials of improperly obtaining permission to surveil a former Trump campaign adviser shows a tragic failure of leadership on the part of former FBI Director James Comey.
But importantly, the memo does not in any way reflect on the outstanding work of the more than 35,000 dedicated men and women of the FBI.
It pains me – as a former FBI executive who loves and respects the organization – to say that Comey’s short tenure at the FBI has proven to be the worst thing to happen to the agency since L. Patrick Gray withdrew his nomination for FBI Director and resigned from the Bureau during the Watergate scandal.
If the facts stated in the memo are true – despite the highly political nature of congressional committees – then there was either incompetent or deliberate manipulation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court to get approval of the surveillance.
Even new agent trainees at the FBI Academy know better than to use paid opposition research and newspaper articles to support use of one of the most sensitive and intrusive surveillance techniques in the investigative toolbox. If they do use such information, the FISA judge should have been apprised of the origins of the research.
FBI agents are also taught to never mislead any court of law. It’s unlikely the surveillance warrant would have been issued if the FISA judge was aware that political opponents (the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee) had financed the information used to obtain approval of the surveillance.
FISA applications go through extensive reviews at multiple levels of executive management at the FBI and Justice Department. They are signed by the most senior FBI and Justice Department executives before they are presented to the FISA court for approval.
The 2016 FISA approvals in question were signed by none other than FBI Director Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. The buck stops there. They were the top two officials in the FBI at the time.
McCabe, enabled by Comey, created an attitude among his inner circle that flaunted well- established laws and regulations. Comey usurped the role of the Justice Department in publicly exonerating Hillary Clinton from wrongdoing in her handling of government emails when she was secretary of state.
At the same time, Comey took highly conflicted Attorney General Loretta Lynch off the hook to formally recuse herself from the Hillary Clinton probe as a result of Lynch’s own inexcusable and inept conduct in meeting former President Bill Clinton while his wife was under Justice Department and FBI investigation.
With his conduct, Comey set in motion a cascading set of events that resulted in the FBI becoming a pawn in a political firestorm. He justified making up his own rules because he felt righteous.
Comey permitted leaks and allowed bias to infect two of the most important investigations ever conducted by the FBI. He clearly permitted his lead investigative agent to predetermine the outcome of the Clinton investigation, while allowing the agent’s biased actions and anti-Trump texts to complicate the role of Special Counsel Robert Mueller in actually getting to the truth of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page – who were carrying on a romantic affair when they traded numerous text criticizing then-candidate Trump – are now star witnesses for the defense in any indictments that come out of Mueller’s office.
Mueller is an honest, fair and non-political professional who took a bullet for his country as a Marine in Vietnam. He is our best chance to learn the truth. And the truth should be good enough for everyone. He served for 12 years as FBI director with many accomplishments, no terrorist attacks on his watch and not a hint of controversy.
Current FBI Director Chris Wray has now taken the helm and is trying his best to right the ship. This is no time for him to resign. He has a lot to overcome in a very difficult task. He must maintain his independence from the president while navigating political controversy coming at him from every direction.
Wray is very deliberately cleaning out the remnants of the Comey cabal on the FBI’s 7th Floor. He has apparently been given a preview of the Department of Justice inspector general’s investigation of the conduct of several FBI officials during the Clinton investigation. This inspector general is the same person who outed the Strzok and Page texts.
Now information is circulating that the Republican memo made public is just the tip of the iceberg. Ex-FBI Agents are picking up information that the inspector general’s report will be far more graphic in detailing the misconduct of McCabe, Strzok and others more serious that what is in the memo released Friday.
The Republican congressional memo outlines potentially serious misconduct on the part of the Comey leadership team. Going forward, the FBI should err on the side of transparency. Director Wray should make every effort to declassify the documents and affidavit supporting surveillance approved by the FISA Court.
Such information has been released before. It is better for the FBI to release the information than to have it come from a political body like Congress. Let the public decide for themselves without political spin.
The American people, Congress and the president should sit back and allow Special Counsel Mueller to do his work. This nation has an interest in making sure that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intelligence thugs and mobbed-up oligarchs do not influence our political processes.
It’s time to find out what really happened.
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Another long-ago FBI agent, who didn't serve under Comey, weighs in on Comey's leadership. That all ya got? It aint much.
barfo
MARIS61
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Nice try, but you know it's HUGE!
He was an actual FBI Agent, something lawyer Comey never was, and rose through the ranks while inexperienced and unqualified Comey was given the job by Obama to head his deep state gang.
Mueller flat out loves him and respects him deeply.
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Everything but the ones they didn't release. So, not "everything."
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As long as the swamp resigns or otherwise exits, we're all better off.
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Thing is, the swamp *isn't* draining.
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It is.
Eight top FBI officials removed, resigned, or fired. So far. Those are the most visible ones.
You might enjoy this:
http://reason.com/blog/2018/02/05/trumps-opponents-worry-that-hes-undermin
Trump's Critics Worry That He's Undermining Trust in the FBI, As If That's a Bad Thing
More Republican skepticism of law enforcement agencies is a welcome development.
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/democr...c8499ad9248a099a5&reflink=article_email_share
Democrats and FBI Abuses
In the 1970s, progressives stood up for civil liberties. Today they’ve reverted to the J. Edgar Hoover era.
Yet anyone eager to embrace the belief that today’s FBI is a rigorously professional and politically unbiased agency is overlooking the facts. Consider an FBI intelligence assessment from last August, obtained by Foreign Policy’s Jana Winter and Sharon Weinberger. The report warns of a new and highly dangerous domestic terrorist threat: “Black Identity Extremists.” Notwithstanding that “BIE violence has been rare over the past 20 years,” the FBI proclaimed that it had “high confidence”—defined as “high quality information from multiple sources”—that “premeditated attacks upon law enforcement” by armed African-American activists were 80% to 95% likely to occur over the following year.
Six months later no such attacks have taken place. But in a Dec. 12 raid on the Dallas home of a black activist, FBI agents did seize two firearms, along with a copy of Robert F. Williams’s well-known book “Negroes With Guns,” first published in 1962. According to a Jan. 30 report in Foreign Policy, the activist stands accused of unlawful possession of a firearm, given a previous misdemeanor conviction for domestic assault.
Mr. Garrow’s books include “The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr.,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning King biography “Bearing the Cross,” and “Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama. ”
Democrats and FBI Abuses
In the 1970s, progressives stood up for civil liberties. Today they’ve reverted to the J. Edgar Hoover era.
Yet anyone eager to embrace the belief that today’s FBI is a rigorously professional and politically unbiased agency is overlooking the facts. Consider an FBI intelligence assessment from last August, obtained by Foreign Policy’s Jana Winter and Sharon Weinberger. The report warns of a new and highly dangerous domestic terrorist threat: “Black Identity Extremists.” Notwithstanding that “BIE violence has been rare over the past 20 years,” the FBI proclaimed that it had “high confidence”—defined as “high quality information from multiple sources”—that “premeditated attacks upon law enforcement” by armed African-American activists were 80% to 95% likely to occur over the following year.
Six months later no such attacks have taken place. But in a Dec. 12 raid on the Dallas home of a black activist, FBI agents did seize two firearms, along with a copy of Robert F. Williams’s well-known book “Negroes With Guns,” first published in 1962. According to a Jan. 30 report in Foreign Policy, the activist stands accused of unlawful possession of a firearm, given a previous misdemeanor conviction for domestic assault.
Mr. Garrow’s books include “The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr.,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning King biography “Bearing the Cross,” and “Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama. ”
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It's not the rank and file that you have to worry about, but those at the top who can squash investigations or decide "no prosecutor would bring charges" (when there are dozens lined up to bring charges).
Nunes' committee and the senate version has only begun. Next memo will be about the DoJ, to add to the malfeasance by the FBI.
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Laughing that you are hitching your broken down wagon to Nunes.
As for the rank-and-file, who do you think wrote that FISA application that you think is so incriminating?
barfo
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Yep, Schiff looks pretty stupid there. However, note a key point.
Schiff's immediate reaction was 'I'll give this to the FBI'.
Compare and contrast that with everyone on the Trump team's reaction to their contacts with Russians - none of them ever called the FBI, and at least two of them lied about it when the FBI contacted them.
barfo
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But he didn't give it to the FBI. He sought the info himself.
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That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It was a prank call, there was no 'it' that could be given to the FBI.
The point is that he told the pranksters that it should be given to the FBI.
Unlike Trump Jr. and all the other Trumpsters, who never once thought of going to the FBI, and lied when the FBI came to them.
barfo
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