FBI launches new Clinton Foundation investigation

The Hill

The Justice Department has launched a new inquiry into whether the Clinton Foundation engaged in any pay-to-play politics or other illegal activities while Hillary Clinton served as Secretary of State, law enforcement officials and a witness tells The Hill.

FBI agents from Little Rock, Ark., where the Foundation was started, have taken the lead in the investigation and have interviewed at least one witness in the last month, and law enforcement officials said additional activities are expected in coming weeks.

The officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the probe is examining whether the Clintons promised or performed any policy favors in return for largesse to their charitable efforts or whether donors made commitments of donations in hopes of securing government outcomes.

The probe may also examine whether any tax-exempt assets were converted for personal or political use and whether the Foundation complied with applicable tax laws, the officials said.

One witness recently interviewed by the FBI described the session to The Hill as “extremely professional and unquestionably thorough” and focused on questions about whether donors to Clinton charitable efforts received any favorable treatment from the Obama administration on a policy decision previously highlighted in media reports.

The witness discussed his interview solely on the grounds of anonymity. He said the agents were from Little Rock and their questions focused on government decisions and discussions of donations to Clinton entities during the time Hillary Clinton led President Obama’s State Department.

The FBI office in Little Rock referred a reporter Thursday to Washington headquarters, where officials declined any official comment.

 

Continued Reading.…

District Court Judge Rules Fusion-GPS Must Turn Over Bank Records…

CONSERVATIVE TREEHOUSE

U.S. District Judge Richard J Leon ruled today that Fusion-GPS must turn over their banking records as required under the existing congressional subpoena.

Fusion GPS had sought an injunction from the federal court blocking the U.S. House Intelligence Committee from forcing them to provide banking records related to their 2016 opposition research work on Russia related matters.

In a 26-page-ruling (full pdf below) Judge Leon rebuked each of the Fusion GPS reasons for the injunction and ruled the subpoena from the congressional committee was appropriate, proper and lawful.

This is critical and presents a joint approach toward the entire scheme. At the same time the Judicial Committees are focusing on the DOJ and FBI and how they used the FISA court, the House Intel Committee is focusing on the underlying documents, research and evidence behind the manipulated FISA warrant. Splendid.

see below

(Excerpt) Read more at theconservativetreehouse.com …

At Least 18 Classified Emails Found on Weiner’s Laptop

State Department Releases 147 New Huma Abedin Work-Related Emails, 806 Total Emails

Judicial Watch

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch revealed today that there are at least 18 classified emails in the 798 documents recently produced by the State Department from the FBI’s investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s elicit email system. The emails were found on the laptop of Anthony Weiner, who is the estranged husband of former Clinton aide Huma Abedin.

Abedin was Clinton’s deputy chief of staff. Weiner is a disgraced former congressman and New York mayoral candidate who pleaded guilty to transferring obscene material to a minor. Abedin kept a non-State.gov email account on Hillary Clinton’s notorious email server that she used repeatedly for government business.

There are five new classified emails among 147 new Abedin work-related documents released by the State Department on Friday, December 29, 2017.

Thirteen emails containing classified information were also found on the Weiner laptop computer that had already been released to the public. This classified material includes discussions about Saudi Arabia, The Hague, Egypt, South Africa, Zimbabwe, the identity of a CIA official, Malawi, the war in Syria, Lebanon, Hamas, and the PLO.

On two occasions, classified material was sent by Abedin on her clintonemail.com account to Weiner’s laptop (sent to “Anthony Campaign”) on November 25, 2010. The email discusses an upcoming call with Prince Saud of “expected WikiLeaks leaks.” Abedin sent classified information the following day to Weiner’s laptop concerning a call that “Jeff” (presumably then- US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman) had with United Arab Emirates Prime Minister Abdullah bin Zayed.

The Weiner laptop also contains classified material from Abedin’s Blackberry. A July 9, 2011, email contained classified information regarding a then-upcoming call between Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. On November 25, 2011, classified information was sent regarding Feltman’s notes on the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs impression of the Hamas- Palestine Liberation Organization talks. On May 4, 2012, additional classified material from the BlackBerry backup was sent.

“Judicial Watch’s work in federal court holding the government accountable to the rule of law has forced the State Department to finally release these documents,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The classified information on Weiner’s laptop is part of a pattern of mishandling national security material by Clinton and her aides. The Weiner emails emphasize the need for the Justice Department to conduct a fresh, serious investigation of Hillary Clinton’s and Huma Abedin’s obvious violations of law. That’s why we are pleased to learn that the Justice Department has reportedly at least begun asking questions about the Clinton classified material. Judicial Watch has no doubt that the Justice Department is taking these steps due to the ongoing disclosures of Clinton email misconduct from Judicial Watch’s lawsuits.”

In September 2017 Judicial Watch made public Abedin’s use of the unsecure Clinton email system for the transmission of sensitive passwords.

On August 18, 2009, confidential assistant Monica Hanley provided Abedin with laptop and fob (a physical device that provides a login code) logins and passwords to log onto a laptop, as well as a secure State Department website at https://one.state.gov. Included were a PIN number and instructions on how to access her email from the secure State Department website. Abedin forwarded this information to her unsecure account.

On January 2, President Trump tweeted: “Crooked Hillary Clinton’s top aid, Huma Abedin, has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols. She put Classified Passwords into the hands of foreign agents. Remember sailors’ pictures on submarine? Jail! Deep State Justice Dept must finally act? Also on Comey & others.”

The documents produced on December 12, 2017, are part of a court ordered production of documents. A State Department court filing states: “The State Department “identified approximately 2,800 work-related documents among the documents provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

The documents were produced in a May 5, 2015, lawsuit Judicial Watch filed against the State Department (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00684)). Judicial Watch sued after the State Department failed to respond to a March 18, 2015, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking: “All emails of official State Department business received or sent by former Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin from January 1, 2009 through February 1, 2013 using a non-‘state.gov’ email address.”

Judicial Watch previously released 20 productions of documents in this case that show examples of mishandling of classified information and instances of pay to play between the Clinton State Department and the Clinton Foundation. Also, at least 627 emails were not part of the 55,000 pages of emails that Clinton turned over, and further contradict a statement by Clinton that, “as far as she knew,” all of her government emails had been turned over to department.

To see examples of previously released documents containing classified and sensitive information sent through the Clinton non-government server, click here.

Why Trump is right about Pakistan

Family Security Matters

by LAWRENCE SELLIN, PHD

In his first Tweet of 2018, President Donald Trump highlighted the chronic Pakistani duplicity in regard to the war in Afghanistan:

“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”

While publicly supporting U.S. efforts to stabilize Afghanistan, Pakistan secretly provides safe haven and de facto sponsors a Taliban educational, training and financial infrastructure to sustain a proxy war against Afghanistan in order to preserve it as a client state.

Case in point from information provided by on-the-ground sources in Pakistan.

Abdul Basit Ahmedzai Mengal operates a religious school (Madrasa Qazi Abad) and mosque in Nushki District, Balochistan province, Pakistan. Originally from the village of Zaro Chah near the border with Afghanistan, he has two wives and his son, Abdul Latif Mengal, is a student at Bolan Medical College in Quetta.