Justice Department reportedly blocked FBI probe over Reid, Lee accusations

The Justice Department reportedly has blocked the FBI from launching a federal probe into accusations involving Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, leaving agents to work with local prosecutors to examine the evidence on the side. 
The Washington Times reported Friday that two local Utah prosecutors, one Democrat and one Republican, are now working on a wide-ranging corruption investigation. As part of that, they apparently uncovered accusations of wrongdoing by the two U.S. senators. 
But the Justice Department reportedly blocked FBI agents from using a federal grand jury and subpoenas to test whether they or other officials committed any violations. 
Both local prosecutors are speaking out, saying the claims should at least be looked into. Their offices are doing so, with some assistance from FBI agents. 
"Based upon what we know today, we were surprised that the DOJ ran away," Davis County prosecutor Troy Rawlings reportedly said. 
Rawlings, a Republican, stressed it would be "unfair" to describe this as an investigation of Reid and Lee at this point. But he said "we are not going to ignore the scraps of evidence coming in about them." 
Sim Gill, Salt Lake County chief prosecutor and a Democrat, also reportedly said the "very serious allegations" should be examined. 
The accusations stem in part from indicted businessman Jeremy Johnson, who reportedly claims he was asked to route hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions and payments to one of Reid's associates, in the hopes Reid would intervene on both a federal fraud lawsuit against him and on legislation allowing Internet poker. Reid never intervened on the lawsuit, but did back off his opposition to Internet poker. 
Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson, though, denied the allegations and said Reid always conducts fundraising in compliance with the law. 
"Mr. Johnson is a desperate individual who's been indicted on over 80 counts. His allegations are false and the flailings of a desperate man," he told the newspaper. 
Jentleson told FoxNews.com that the local prosecutors' complaints at this stage seem "like a total publicity stunt." 
Both The Washington Times and ABC News reported on the accusations. 
As for Lee, the questions reportedly involve Lee's sale of his million-dollar Utah home, apparently to a campaign contributor, for just $720,000. The home was sold in a short sale, leaving the mortgage bank to absorb much of the losses, and investigators reportedly want to know whether Lee provided accurate information about his personal finances. 
A spokesman for Lee said the transaction was "aboveboard." 
Representatives with Lee and the Justice Department have not returned requests for comment from FoxNews.com.

‘Very upset’: CIA sat on Benghazi investigation, US personnel fuming

Obama thinks that if nothing is said or done about this that the American people will forget all about it. Some of us will but some of us want, I for one will not. (Bailey)

American personnel on the ground in Benghazi the night of the 2012 terror attack are outraged after learning that the CIA's inspector general never conducted an investigation into what happened -- despite two CIA workers being killed in the attack and despite at least two complaints being filed by CIA employees.
Former Ambassador Chris Stevens, another State official and two ex-Navy SEALs working for the CIA were killed in that attack.
Many in the agency were told, or were under the impression, that an investigation was in the works, but that is not the case.
One person close to the issue told Fox News: "They should be doing an investigation to see what the chief of base in Benghazi and station chief in Tripoli did that night. If they did, they'd find out there were some major mistakes."
This source claimed an investigation would likely uncover a lot of details the public does not know.
Asked why such a probe has not been launched, a CIA spokesman said: "CIA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) always reviews carefully every matter that is brought to its attention, and takes appropriate action based on a variety of factors."
Still, at least two complaints were filed by CIA employees concerned about the attack, which began at the U.S. compound and eventually spread to the CIA annex one mile away. There is no question that CIA personnel saved a lot of lives; those on the ground that night continue to herald the heroism of the individuals who responded to try and help Stevens and others under attack.
Yet questions remain about the overall decision-making, possible destruction of evidence and warnings of an impending attack.
"There needs to be a CIA investigation ... there was a lot of things done wrong," one special operator said.
But a CIA spokesman said the OIG has already "explained fully" to the agency's congressional oversight committees "why it did not open an investigation into Benghazi-related issues."
"That decision was based on a determination that the concerns raised fell under the purview of the State Department's Accountability Review Board, and that a separate OIG action could unnecessarily disrupt the FBI's criminal investigation into the Benghazi attacks," the spokesman said.
The Accountability Review Board probe was ordered by the State Department, and the board reported its findings in December 2012.
But separate investigations haven't stopped the OIG from investigating issues before. Why they held back in this instance is a question starting to filter through the agents at the CIA. Fox News has been told some of the investigators initially assigned to review the Benghazi complaints are "very upset and very frustrated" that they were told to stop the process.
Some members of the Senate Intelligence Committee expressed some of these same concerns in their review of the Benghazi attacks. On page 15 of the Republican response on Jan. 15, it states: "... the committee has learned that the CIA Inspector General did not investigate complaints relating to the Benghazi attacks from CIA whistle blowers. Whether these complaints are ultimately substantiated or dismissed is irrelevant. On a matter of this magnitude involving the deaths of four Americans, the Inspector General has a singular obligation to take seriously and fully investigate any allegation of wrongdoing. His failure to do so raises significant questions that we believe the Committee must explore more fully." 
Fox News has also learned that the Senate Committee was told by the CIA that the investigation did not take place because it would interfere with the State Department Accountability Review Board, which was conducted to "examine the facts and circumstances of the attacks." While that review contained major criticism aimed at State Department officials in Washington, it didn't directly mention the CIA.
"Since when does the CIA defer to State? The ARB is in a total different agency anyway," one special operator said.
Former U.S. United Nations spokesman Richard Grenell also is critical of the CIA actions. "It's puzzling that the Obama administration is so reluctant to do a real investigation of the facts surrounding the Benghazi attack," he said. "The ARB conveniently never interviewed Hillary Clinton or her political team about what they knew in the lead up or how they reacted during the crisis. And now we learn that the CIA wasn't interested in conducting a real investigation either." 
The frustration within the agency is building over the fact that many see the CIA inspector general as their last line of defense internally. While the internal complaints are classified, Fox News has learned that besides questioning the actions of the station chief and chief of base, the complaints also question dealings with the Libyan security forces -- and include questions about the reliance on a group of local volunteer militiamen called the February 17 Martyrs Brigade for security and their likely participation in the attack.