Connections to corruption

[hislegacy]

Department of Justice (Non-FBI):

• John Carlin – Assistant Attorney General – Head of DOJ’s National Security Division – announced resignation on September 27, 2016 after filing the Government’s proposed 2016 Section 702 certifications on September 26, 2016. The filing does not disclose known FISA Abuses. Carlin is aware NSA Rogers is conducting a compliance review which will uncover the FISA Abuse. The 2016 certifications are scheduled for Court approval on October 26, 2016. Trump surveillance originated under Carlin’s tenure.
• Sally Yates – Deputy Attorney General & Acting Attorney General (replacing Loretta Lynch – 10 days) – fired January 30, 2017. Complicit in Flynn Surveillance and surveillance of Trump Campaign.
  
• Mary McCord – Acting Assistant Attorney General – Acting Head of DOJ’s National Security Division (replacing John Carlin) – announced resignation on April 17, 2017 – Left on May 11, 2017. Complicit in Flynn Surveillance and surveillance of Trump Campaign.
• Bruce Ohr – Associate Deputy Attorney General – demoted twice. Stripped of Associate Deputy Attorney General title on December 6, 2017. Removed as head of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force January 8, 2018. Unofficial liaison between Fusion GPS and FBI/DOJ. Wife worked at Fusion. Long-standing ties to both Christopher Steele and Glenn Simpson/Fusion GPS.
• David Laufman – DOJ National Security Division, Deputy Asst. Attorney General in charge of counterintelligence – resignedon February 7, 2018. Laufman “played a leading role in the Clinton email server and Russian hacking investigations.”
• Rachel Brand – Associate Attorney General – number three official behind Deputy AG Rosenstein – resignedFebruary 9, 2018. Takes top legal position at Walmart. Brand “played a critical role in Congress’ re-authorization” of section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

FBI:

• James Comey – FBI Director – fired May 9, 2017. Oversaw all FBI operations – including exoneration of Clinton and Trump-Russia Investigation. Reported to AG Lynch.
  
• Peter Strzok – Deputy Assistant Director of FBI’s Counterintelligence – forced off Mueller’s team – demoted August 16, 2017 to FBI’s Human Resources. IG Horowitz discovered texts July 27, 2017. Strzok involved in all facets of Clinton exoneration. Working member of “Insurance Policy” group.
• Lisa Page – FBI/DOJ Lawyer – forced off Mueller’s team – demoted August 16, 2017 to parts unknown. IG Horowitz discovered texts July 27, 2017. Working member of “Insurance Policy” group.
• James Baker – FBI General Counsel – demoted and reassigned on December 20, 2017. Working member of “Insurance Policy” group. Senior-most legal counsel at FBI.
• James Rybicki – Chief of Staff to FBI Director James Comey & successor Chris Wray – resigned/forced out January 23, 2018. Working member of “Insurance Policy” group.
  
• Andrew McCabe – Deputy FBI Director – on December 23, 2017 announcedretirement effective March 22, 2018. Forced to resign on January 29, 2018. Involved in all aspects. Reported to Comey.
• Josh Campbell – Special Assistant to James Comey – resigned on February 2, 2018. Writes op-ed in New York Times on why he is leaving but does not disclose in op-ed that he was Special Assistant to Comey – or that he had been offered lucrative CNN job. Takes job with CNN on February 5, 2018.
• Michael Kortan – FBI Asst. Director Public Affairs – resigned on February 8, 2018 – effective February 15, 2018. Kortan served as assistant director for public affairs, an influential job that controlled media access.
• Bill Priestap – Assistant Director – Head of FBI Counterintelligence – Holds same position. Strzok’s boss – reported directly to McCabe.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

From Criminal Convictions to Ethical Lapses: The Range of Misconduct in Trump’s Orbit

 

[mark kennedy]

How many of them actually were indicted and convicted?

• Paul Manafort: admitted to conspiring to defraud the US and conspiring to obstruct justice in return for other charges against him being dropped. A filing to the court by Mueller’s team indicated that Manafort would receive a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
• Michael Cohen: pleaded guilty to a number of charges, most notably making an “excessive campaign contribution at the request of a candidate or campaign”, ie Trump. This related to payments made to the Playboy model Karen McDougal and inappropriate contentographic film actor Stormy Daniels.
• Michael Flynn: In December 2016, he struck a plea with special counsel Robert Mueller and pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and vowed to fully cooperate with the Russian interference investigation.
• Rick Gates: When asked by prosecutors at his trial earlier this month: “Did you commit crimes with Mr Manafort?” Gates reportedly said: “Yes”. He went on to detail the litany of offences – from filing falsified tax returns, to setting up shell companies to hide sources of foreign income, and misleading banks to get loans – that he committed upon Manafort’s instructions.
• George Papadopoulos, Was a foreign policy adviser to Trump during the election campaign and became the first of his advisers to plead guilty in Mueller’s investigation when he confessed to making false statements to the FBI about his contacts with Russians during the campaign. The prosecutors said he caused irreparable damage to the investigation after repeatedly lying in an interview in January 2017, which resulted in the FBI missing an opportunity to effectively question a potential key witness. (How many of Donald Trump's advisers have been convicted? The Guardian)
• Alex van der Zwaan: This London lawyer pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI about his contacts with Rick Gates and another unnamed person based in Ukraine. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and has completed his sentence.
• Konstantin Kilimnik: This longtime business associate of Manafort and Gates, who’s currently based in Russia, was charged alongside Manafort with attempting to obstruct justice by tampering with witnesses in Manafort’s pending case this year.
• Sam Patten: A GOP lobbyist who had worked in some of the same Ukrainian circles as Manafort and alongside Konstantin Kilimnik, Mueller’s team began investigating Patten, but at some point handed him off to the DC US attorney’s office. However, the plea deal Patten eventually struck obligated him to cooperate with Mueller. (All of Robert Mueller’s indictments and plea deals in the Russia investigation so far. Vox)

 

[hislegacy]

What about just doesn’t keep the thread on topic

There is another side to corruption in the government and it should not be ignored.

 

[mark kennedy]

What about just doesn’t keep the thread on topic

There is another side to corruption in the government and it should not be ignored.

I thought there was a topic of connections to corruption. I could throw in the firing of James Comey because of the 'Russia thing', Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Preet Bharara, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York. Trump is clearing the swamp by hiring power brokers and cleaning out the DOJ at will and at random.

 

[Apologetic_Warrior]

How many of them actually were indicted and convicted?

• Paul Manafort: admitted to conspiring to defraud the US and conspiring to obstruct justice in return for other charges against him being dropped. A filing to the court by Mueller’s team indicated that Manafort would receive a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
• Michael Cohen: pleaded guilty to a number of charges, most notably making an “excessive campaign contribution at the request of a candidate or campaign”, ie Trump. This related to payments made to the Playboy model Karen McDougal and inappropriate contentographic film actor Stormy Daniels.
• Michael Flynn: In December 2016, he struck a plea with special counsel Robert Mueller and pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and vowed to fully cooperate with the Russian interference investigation.
• Rick Gates: When asked by prosecutors at his trial earlier this month: “Did you commit crimes with Mr Manafort?” Gates reportedly said: “Yes”. He went on to detail the litany of offences – from filing falsified tax returns, to setting up shell companies to hide sources of foreign income, and misleading banks to get loans – that he committed upon Manafort’s instructions.
• George Papadopoulos, Was a foreign policy adviser to Trump during the election campaign and became the first of his advisers to plead guilty in Mueller’s investigation when he confessed to making false statements to the FBI about his contacts with Russians during the campaign. The prosecutors said he caused irreparable damage to the investigation after repeatedly lying in an interview in January 2017, which resulted in the FBI missing an opportunity to effectively question a potential key witness. (How many of Donald Trump's advisers have been convicted? The Guardian)
• Alex van der Zwaan: This London lawyer pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI about his contacts with Rick Gates and another unnamed person based in Ukraine. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and has completed his sentence.
• Konstantin Kilimnik: This longtime business associate of Manafort and Gates, who’s currently based in Russia, was charged alongside Manafort with attempting to obstruct justice by tampering with witnesses in Manafort’s pending case this year.
• Sam Patten: A GOP lobbyist who had worked in some of the same Ukrainian circles as Manafort and alongside Konstantin Kilimnik, Mueller’s team began investigating Patten, but at some point handed him off to the DC US attorney’s office. However, the plea deal Patten eventually struck obligated him to cooperate with Mueller. (All of Robert Mueller’s indictments and plea deals in the Russia investigation so far. Vox)

Interesting how one sided the convictions have been the past couple of years (per the context of the thread). I wonder why that is? Further evidence of corruption in our justice system, imho. I wonder why the GOP is not pursuing legal action against any in the OP list, or are they? I wouldn't know cannot keep up with the mess that is politics.

 

[SimplyMe]

Interesting how one sided the convictions have been the past couple of years (per the context of the thread). I wonder why that is? Further evidence of corruption in our justice system, imho. I wonder why the GOP is not pursuing legal action against any in the OP list, or are they? I wouldn't know cannot keep up with the mess that is politics.

Even more interesting that Republicans have headed the Justice Department over the last two years. This would appear to indicate that the "one-sidedness" has to do with actual, prosecutable, laws being broken more by "one side" rather than any bias or corruption in the system.

 

[mark kennedy]

Interesting how one sided the convictions have been the past couple of years (per the context of the thread). I wonder why that is? Further evidence of corruption in our justice system, imho. I wonder why the GOP is not pursuing legal action against any in the OP list, or are they? I wouldn't know cannot keep up with the mess that is politics.

That is the key contrast, people may not like some of the things with the Obama administration but bottom line, Trump associates are going to jail. In this mess we can miss that fact that our government is corrupt, there can be no serious question about that. I'm willing to wait for Mueller to finish his investigation but never before have a seen a more fruitful prosecution of a special prosecutor. I worry that this will do irreparable damage to the office.

 

[Tanj]

There is another side to corruption in the government and it should not be ignored.

That's the side where writing "complicit" or "worked for" == guilty on all charges, with not a shred of evidence or any due process.

It really should be ignored.

 

[hislegacy]

That's the side where writing "complicit" or "worked for" == guilty on all charges, with not a shred of evidence or any due process.

It really should be ignored.

And yet they are being fired or taking the easy way out in numbers never seen before.

Like rats off a sinking ship.

 

[GreatLakes4Ever]

That is the key contrast, people may not like some of the things with the Obama administration but bottom line, Trump associates are going to jail. In this mess we can miss that fact that our government is corrupt, there can be no serious question about that. I'm willing to wait for Mueller to finish his investigation but never before have a seen a more fruitful prosecution of a special prosecutor. I worry that this will do irreparable damage to the office.

If the legislative and judicial branches grew a spine the executive branch is going to have so much of their power stripped down to close to what the Constitution originally gave that Trump will inadvertently make Obama the last great president because he’ll have been the last one who was actually able to do anything.

 

[Belk]

And yet they are being fired or taking the easy way out in numbers never seen before.

Like rats off a sinking ship.

Numbers never seen before according to whom?

 

[Tanj]

And yet they are being fired or taking the easy way out in numbers never seen before.

Like rats off a sinking ship.

You think an unevidenced implication some how balances out your desire to throw out the rule of law?

Weird stuff.

If I found my self working in the Trump Whitehouse, Id' be looking for firing, or any other way out, as fast as I could

 

[hislegacy]

If the legislative and judicial branches grew a spine the executive branch is going to have so much of their power stripped down to close to what the Constitution originally gave that Trump will inadvertently make Obama the last great president because he’ll have been the last one who was actually able to do anything.

There are many who would take issue with Barack Hussein Obama being spoken of in terms as great President.

He was an enemy of business, middle class workers, manufacturing, oil production and millions upon millions of Americans lost when he lied repeatedly about health care, loosing coverage and then penalized for not getting coverage they could not afford.

 

[Apologetic_Warrior]

Even more interesting that Republicans have headed the Justice Department over the last two years. This would appear to indicate that the "one-sidedness" has to do with actual, prosecutable, laws being broken more by "one side" rather than any bias or corruption in the system.

How would you know whether or not any of the names from the OP have committed prosecutable crimes? Based on what I have gleaned from various sources over time, Hillary Clinton committed prosecutable crimes but to date has not been prosecuted. Why?

 

[mark kennedy]

If the legislative and judicial branches grew a spine the executive branch is going to have so much of their power stripped down to close to what the Constitution originally gave that Trump will inadvertently make Obama the last great president because he’ll have been the last one who was actually able to do anything.

Trump is abusing his executive privilege at unparalleled levels. That means in the wake of the Trump administration there will be a natural curtail of executive privilege. That will cause serious issues for future Presidents who need to act quickly and decisively.

 

[hislegacy]

Numbers never seen before according to whom?

Please cite another equal period in history where this many DOJ and FBI senior staff were demoted, fired or chose to leave early.

 

[hislegacy]

How would you know whether or not any of the names from the OP have committed prosecutable crimes? Based on what I have gleaned from various sources over time, Hillary Clinton committed prosecutable crimes but to date has not been prosecuted. Why?

That’s the 64,000,000 question isn’t it?

Flynn lies to the FBI one time and lost his home and is heading to jail, Hillary lied to Congress six times as testified to by the Director of the FBI and nothing happened.

Why is that?

 

[Belk]

Please cite another equal period in history where this many DOJ and FBI senior staff were demoted, fired or chose to leave early.

So you are just guessing?

 

[hislegacy]

Trump is abusing his executive privilege at unparalleled levels.

Please cite sources for this opinion.