Changes

The same month there were calls for [[Attorney General]] [[Loretta Lynch]] to appoint a special prosecutor in the [[Hillary Clinton email scandal|Clinton email probe]] and the [[Uranium One bribery scandal|Uranium One "pay-to-play" scandal]]. The FBI opened its investigation of [[Hillary Clinton]] with Andrew McCabe “running the FBI’s Washington, D.C., field office, which provided personnel and resources to the Clinton email probe.”  Five days after the story broke,<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/us/politics/hillary-clintons-use-of-private-email-at-state-department-raises-flags.html</ref> McCabe and his wife met with Clinton fundraiser [[Terry McAuliffe]]. McAuliffe's political action committee and associated groups under his control gave nearly $700,000 to McCabe's wife to run for the Virginia state senate.<ref>https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-examines-potential-conflicts-top-fbi-official’s-role-russia-collusion</ref> The Clinton personnel began immediately scrubbing their servers with BleachBit, and McCabe ordered FBI agents to stand down.<ref>https://pjmedia.com/trending/report-mccabe-issued-stand-order-clinton-email-investigation/</ref><ref>https://youtu.be/hStEVre1xww</ref> By February of election year, McCabe was promoted to deputy director.

The same month there were calls for [[Attorney General]] [[Loretta Lynch]] to appoint a special prosecutor in the [[Hillary Clinton email scandal|Clinton email probe]] and the [[Uranium One bribery scandal|Uranium One "pay-to-play" scandal]]. The FBI opened its investigation of [[Hillary Clinton]] with Andrew McCabe “running the FBI’s Washington, D.C., field office, which provided personnel and resources to the Clinton email probe.”  Five days after the story broke,<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/us/politics/hillary-clintons-use-of-private-email-at-state-department-raises-flags.html</ref> McCabe and his wife met with Clinton fundraiser [[Terry McAuliffe]]. McAuliffe's political action committee and associated groups under his control gave nearly $700,000 to McCabe's wife to run for the Virginia state senate.<ref>https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-examines-potential-conflicts-top-fbi-official’s-role-russia-collusion</ref> The Clinton personnel began immediately scrubbing their servers with BleachBit, and McCabe ordered FBI agents to stand down.<ref>https://pjmedia.com/trending/report-mccabe-issued-stand-order-clinton-email-investigation/</ref><ref>https://youtu.be/hStEVre1xww</ref> By February of election year, McCabe was promoted to deputy director.

Inspector General [[Michael Horowitz]] reported: {{quotebox|"We identified numerous FBI employees, at all levels of the organization and with no official reason to be in contact with the media, who were nevertheless in frequent contact with reporters. Attached to this report as Attachments E and F are two link charts that reflect the volume of communications that we identified between FBI employees and media representatives in April/May and October 2016. We have profound concerns about the volume and extent of unauthorized media contacts by FBI personnel that we have uncovered during our review.  

Inspector General [[Michael Horowitz]] reported:  

{{quotebox|"We identified numerous FBI employees, at all levels of the organization and with no official reason to be in contact with the media, who were nevertheless in frequent contact with reporters. Attached to this report as Attachments E and F are two link charts that reflect the volume of communications that we identified between FBI employees and media representatives in April/May and October 2016. We have profound concerns about the volume and extent of unauthorized media contacts by FBI personnel that we have uncovered during our review.  

In addition, we identified instances where FBI employees improperly received benefits from reporters, including tickets to sporting events, golfing outings, drinks and meals, and admittance to nonpublic social events. We will separately report on those investigations as they are concluded, consistent with the Inspector General Act, other applicable federal statutes, and OIG policy.

In addition, we identified instances where FBI employees improperly received benefits from reporters, including tickets to sporting events, golfing outings, drinks and meals, and admittance to nonpublic social events. We will separately report on those investigations as they are concluded, consistent with the Inspector General Act, other applicable federal statutes, and OIG policy.

The harm caused by [[leak]]s, fear of potential leaks, and a culture of unauthorized media contacts is illustrated in Chapters Ten and Eleven of our report, where we detail the fact that these issues influenced FBI officials who were advising Comey on consequential investigative decisions in October 2016. The FBI updated its media policy in November 2017, restating its strict guidelines concerning media contacts, and identifying who is required to obtain authority before engaging members of the media, and when and where to report media contact. We do not believe the problem is with the FBI’s policy, which we found to be clear and unambiguous. Rather, we concluded that these leaks highlight the need to change what appears to be a cultural attitude among many in the organization.<ref>https://www.scribd.com/document/381806566/IG-Report-on-FBI-and-DOJ-Handling-of-Clinton-Investigation#</ref>}}

The harm caused by [[leak]]s, fear of potential leaks, and a culture of unauthorized media contacts is illustrated in Chapters Ten and Eleven of our report, where we detail the fact that these issues influenced FBI officials who were advising Comey on consequential investigative decisions in October 2016. The FBI updated its media policy in November 2017, restating its strict guidelines concerning media contacts, and identifying who is required to obtain authority before engaging members of the media, and when and where to report media contact. We do not believe the problem is with the FBI’s policy, which we found to be clear and unambiguous. Rather, we concluded that these leaks highlight the need to change what appears to be a cultural attitude among many in the organization.<ref>https://www.scribd.com/document/381806566/IG-Report-on-FBI-and-DOJ-Handling-of-Clinton-Investigation#</ref>}}

The leadership of the FBI have been very clear, the number one threat in the United States is the rise of “Domestic Extremists.”  This, they say, is the greatest threat to what they perceive as domestic peace and tranquility.  Take them at their word, what does that say about their perspective?

The leadership of the FBI have been very clear, the number one threat in the United States is the rise of “Domestic Extremists.”  This, they say, is the greatest threat to what they perceive as domestic peace and tranquility.  Take them at their word, what does that say about their perspective?