AG Lynch says she cannot make 'prediction' about timing of Clinton probe

Another crooked politician ?

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Monday she could not make any “prediction” about the timing of a final resolution to the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
Asked at a news conference if the clock had run out against taking action against Clinton in light of the advanced election schedule, Lynch replied, "We do all our reviews, investigations of any matter carefully, thoroughly, and efficiently. And when the matter is ready for resolution, a recommendation will be made and we'll come to a decision at that time and I'm not able to give you a prediction. Sorry." 
Lynch had called the press briefing to discuss a DOJ suit against North Carolina – which the department brought quickly, in less than two months - over its transgender bathroom law. The state is also suing the DOJ over the issue.
The FBI's criminal investigation of Clinton's use of a private, unsecured server for government business began about a year ago and is now reported to be entering its final phase with interviews of her closest aides, including Huma Abedin and others.
Two emails from Abedin, and then State Department deputy chief of staff Jake Sullivan, containing classified information kick-started the FBI probe, as first reported by Fox News.  Since more than 2100 emails containing classified information were identified, as well as another 22 at the Top Secret level.
Last weekend, on CBS's Face the Nation, Clinton downplayed the FBI criminal probe, stating "I say what I've said now for many, many months. It's a security inquiry. I always took classified material seriously. There was never any material marked classified that was sent or received-- by me. And I-- look forward to this being wrapped up."  
The non-disclosure agreements signed by Clinton in January 2009 when she became secretary of state explicitly say that classification is based on content, not whether it carries a secret or top secret marking.
"As used in this agreement, classified information is marked or unmarked, including oral communications..." the agreement said.
It is the responsibility of the security clearance holder, such as a secretary of state, to recognize classified information and report when it is outside secure channels. 
Asked whether she had been contacted by the FBI, Clinton said, "No one has reached out to me yet, but last summer, I think last August, I made it clear I'm more than ready to talk to anybody, anytime. And I've encouraged-- all of-- you know, my-- assistants and-- to be-- very forthcoming."
However, her spokesman Brian Fallon said on CNN Friday that her lawyer, David Kendall, who handled the plea agreement for former CIA Director General David Petraeus was in constant contact with the Justice Department, leading critics to charge the campaign was splitting hairs. 
"David Kendall is her top counsel and he has been in touch with the Justice Department throughout this review. We've always been very upfront about that," Fallon said in the CNN interview.  
"She said no, because the honest answer is it hasn't happened yet," Fallon said. "But whenever they do, we'll be happy to accommodate that and make it happen."
Last week, Fox News was the first news organization to report that the Romanian Hacker Marcel Lazar, who goes by the moniker "Guccifer," claimed he easily compromised Clinton's personal server in 2013. 
The FBI has not commented publicly on his extradition to the U.S. and any possible intersection with the Clinton email probe. But a review by Fox News found that convicted hackers are generally brought to the U.S. for trial when there is a significant financial fraud, or government computer networks were compromised, and neither was true in Guccifer's case. 
Cyber security expert Morgan Wright said, “If a little Romanian country boy can get into this, then it means that this thing could be gotten into by anybody.”
While the hacker's claims could not be independently verified, three cyber security experts said they are plausible, and the 44-year old Romanian said he was eager to cooperate with US government authorities.

State Department says it can't find emails from Clinton IT specialist

If you lead by example take a look at some of our country's leaders, what a joke.

 

The State Department told the Republican National Committee that it could not find any emails to or from Hillary Clinton's former IT specialist, who managed her private email server before going on to work for the agency, according to a court filing made public Monday. 
The government's revelation in U.S. District Court in Washington came in answer to a lawsuit by the Republican National Committee. The RNC had sued over its public records request for all work-related emails sent to or received by Clinton's former aide, Bryan Pagliano, between 2009 and 2013, the years of Clinton's tenure as America's top diplomat. The lawsuit also pressed for other State Department records from the Clinton era.
The RNC's filing said lawyers for the agency had informed them in discussions that "the State Department has represented that no responsive records exist" for any Pagliano emails. Pagliano was hired at the agency after reportedly setting up Clinton's server in 2009, but the lack of any official State Department emails raises the question whether he limited his email traffic using a private account, much like Clinton did during her four years as secretary, or whether his government emails were deleted.
A State Department official said Monday that the agency possessed emails from Pagliano from the period after Clinton's term had ended, when he continued to work as a technology contractor.
Agency spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau then added Monday evening that some Pagliano emails dating from Clinton's tenure had been recovered from agency officials' files and turned over to other organizations, including Senate investigators.
"We have previously produced through FOIA and to Congress emails sent and received by Mr. Pagliano during Secretary Clinton's tenure," Trudeau said in a public statement. At least one email, which was sent in November 2012 to Clinton from Pagliano -- but possibly from his private email address -- was released as part of 30,000 Clinton emails made public by the agency over the past year.
A spokesman for the RNC said the organization stood by its description of the discussions with lawyers for the State Department. The group said in its filing that "the State Department has represented that no responsive records exist."
Raj Shah, the RNC spokesman, added, "It's hard to believe that an IT staffer who set up Hillary Clinton's reckless email server never sent or received a single work-related email in the four years he worked at the State Department." Clinton's campaign officials declined to comment in response to questions from The Associated Press.
Trudeau said the State Department is working with Congress and several public records requesters to provide relevant material. She also said agency officials continue to search for "Mr. Pagliano's emails, which the department may have otherwise retained." Trudeau also said the department would respond further to the RNC in court.
State Department officials told Senate investigators last year they could not find a file containing Pagliano's work emails during Clinton's tenure, an assertion first reported by Politico.
Fox News reported in March that Pagliano has revealed several details about Clinton's personal email system to investigators, including who had access to it– as well as when and what devices were used. An intelligence source close to the case told Fox News that Pagliano has been a "devastating witness" to Clinton.
The one email sent by Pagliano that surfaced among Clinton's 30,000 emails was sent to Clinton was a November 2012 birthday greeting. He wished her "Happy Birthday Madam Secretary. To many more!"
Pagliano's email address was censored, unlike numerous official State Department addresses that are listed in Clinton's emails -- suggesting he may have sent the message from a private address.
Clinton did not reply directly to Pagliano. Instead, she sent a copy of an email to an aide with the instruction "Pls respond."

In battle for women’s vote, Trump cites Bill Clinton infidelity as Hillary shrugs off personal attacks

Sometimes the Truth Hurts.

Donald Trump this weekend again dragged Hillary Clinton’s personal life into the political campaign fray, including her husband’s infidelity, as the potential general election rivals compete for the critical women’s vote.
Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, said Saturday at a rally in Spokane, Wash., that Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, “was the worst abuser of women in the history of politics."
And he called Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, an “enabler” because “she treated these women horribly. … And some of these women were destroyed, not by him, but by the way that Hillary Clinton treated them after everything went down."
To be sure, winning women voters will be key to winning the general election.
More than half of all voters in the 2012 presidential race were women, and at least 53 percent of them voted for President Obama over GOP nominee Mitt Romney, according to exit polls.  
Trump's attacks Saturday appeared to be in response to reports that Priorities USA, the lead super PAC backing Clinton, has reserved $91 million in TV advertising, which will start next month and in part focus on Trump’s statements and actions regarding women.

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“Two can play that game," said Trump, in a likely preview of a bruising and personal general election battle.
Trump’s run for the nomination perhaps suffered its biggest setback when he retweeted an unflattering picture of the wife of primary rival Texas Sen. Ted Cruz -- a move he later said he regretted.
Amid criticism about his treatment of women, the billionaire businessman also has touted a history of hiring women to top jobs in his real estate and entrepreneurial empire.
At a later rally Saturday, in Lynden, Wash., Trump repeated that former President Clinton’s denial of a relationship with a White House intern later lead to his impeachment.

RCP Poll Average for Trump vs. Clinton - 2016 General Election | InsideGov

"Do you remember the famous, 'I did not have sex with that woman?' " Trump asked. "And then a couple of months later, 'I'm guilty.' And [Hillary Clinton] is taking negative ads on me."
Trump also sought to downplay past comments about women in venues like the Howard Stern radio show in the days before he was a politician.
He said some were made in the name of entertainment, while others, like his criticism of actress and talk show host Rosie O'Donnell, were warranted.
"Who the hell wouldn't speak badly about Rosie O'Donnell? She's terrible," he said.
Clinton told CNN on Wednesday, after Trump became the GOP’s presumptive nominee, that she felt certain that Americans won’t take a chance on electing a "loose cannon" like him.
And she appeared to warn Trump that others have tried and failed to defeat her politically with similar personal attacks.
"If he wants to go back to the playbook of the 1990s, if he wants to follow in the footsteps of those who have tried to knock me down and take me out of the political arena, I'm more than happy to have him do that," she said.

Paul Ryan Cartoon

Palin says she'll work to unseat Ryan over Trump snub

In a dustup between former GOP vice presidential candidates, Sarah Palin said Sunday she will work to unseat House Speaker Paul Ryan after Ryan refused last week to endorse Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
Palin, who was on the 2008 Republican ticket, said on “State of the Union” she “will do whatever I can” to support Ryan’s primary challenger in Wisconsin’s first district. Ryan’s snub of Trump was “not a wise decision of his,” Palin said.
“His political career is over, but for a miracle, because he has so disrespected the will of the people,” said Palin, who was governor of Alaska from 2006 to 2009.
She suggested that Ryan would be “Cantor-ed,” referencing ex-Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s June 2014 Virginia primary loss to an upstart challenger and his ousting from GOP leadership.
Ryan is facing businessman Paul Nehlen in the Aug. 9 Republican congressional primary. Palin said she has not yet spoken to Nehlen, but Nehlen had obviously heard the news Sunday morning, retweeting two links to the Palin interview from his personal account.
Ryan's spokesperson declined to comment on the Palin remarks when contact by FoxNews.com.

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Ryan, who was a vice presidential candidate in 2012, was first elected to Congress in 1998 and was chosen as speaker of the house in 2015. Though he has been somewhat critical of several Trump statements in the past, Ryan still stunned many in the political world on Thursday when he declined to throw his weight behind his party’s likely November standard bearer.
“I’m just not ready to do that at this point,” Ryan said on CNN. “I’m not there right now.”
Palin told host Jake Tapper she believes Ryan’s own presidential ambitions are keeping him from supporting Trump.
“You know, I think why Paul Ryan is doing this, Jake, it kind of screws his chances for the 2020 presidential bid that he’s gunning for,” she said. “If the GOP were to win now, that wouldn’t bode well for his chances in 2020 and that’s what he’s shooting for. So a lot of people with their ‘Never Trump’ or ‘Now Right Now Trump’ mantra going on, they have different reasons. I think that one is Paul Ryan’s reason.”

West Point investigating black female cadets' raised-fists photo

NEW YORK –  The U.S. Military Academy has launched an inquiry into a photo showing 16 black, female cadets in uniform with their fists raised, an image that has spurred questions about whether the gesture violates military restrictions on political activity.
West Point is looking into whether the photo broke any rules, Spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Kasker said Saturday. It's unclear how long the inquiry will take and too soon to say what consequences it could have for the cadets, who are poised to graduate May 21.
By campus tradition, groups of cadets often take pictures in traditional dress uniforms to echo historical portraits of their cadets. Indeed, a different picture of the same women, without the raised fists, was tweeted out by the chairwoman of the academy's Board of Visitors, 1980 graduate Brenda Sue Fulton.
But the fists-up image, which circulated online, led some observers to question whether the women were expressing support for the Black Lives Matter movement, which grew out of protests over police killings of unarmed black men.
The Army Times, which first wrote about the photo Thursday, said several readers had written in to say they believed the cadets were breaching a Defense Department policy that says "members on active duty should not engage in partisan political activity," with exceptions for voting and certain other things.
But Mary Tobin, a West Point graduate and mentor who knows the students, said they were simply celebrating their forthcoming graduation as a shared accomplishment, like a sports team raising helmets after a win.
"It was a sign of unity," Tobin, a 2003 graduate, said by phone. "They weren't trying to imply any allegiance to any movement."
The raised fist has served as a symbol of power and resistance for various political movements and causes. The gesture has caused controversy before, including when black American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos lifted gloved fists in black power salutes during a medal ceremony at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
Yet the cadets, immersed in the insulated and demanding environment of West Point, didn't anticipate how their gesture would be interpreted and the attention it would draw, said Tobin, who has spoken with them about it.
"Their frame of reference is: 'Right now, we're getting ready to graduate in three weeks, I'm standing here with my sisters .... We outlasted a lot of people, black or white, male or female,' " she said.
Black women cadets are rarities at West Point, where about 70 percent of students are white and about 80 percent are men, although the percentage of women has been growing in recent starting classes.

Trump campaign defends move to fundraise, says 'plenty of time' to unite GOP

Donald Trump strategist Paul Manafort argued Sunday that Trump hasn’t misled supporters by saying during the Republican primaries that he was a self-funded candidate who “couldn’t be bought” and now trying to raise money for the general election. 
Manafort told “Fox News Sunday” that Trump made the announcement to fundraise last week after becoming the Republican’s presumptive presidential nominee, because he now leads the party and needs to match the millions of dollars that Democrats will raise to elect their candidates in November.
“He is the head of the party and will be electing not just the president, but will be electing senators, congressmen, governors and local council people,” Manafort said.
“The Democrats have said they're going to be spending hundreds of millions of dollars to try and spread lies about Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Trump has said to compete against them he will support the party and the party's efforts.”
The change was marked last week when Trump, a billionaire businessman, named a finance chairman.
Manafort said the chairman would be for Trump’s presidential campaign, with Trump at the top of the GOP’s November ballot, but acknowledged that some of the money raised will go toward Trump’s White House bid.

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Manafort, a long-time political strategist hired several weeks ago as Trump’s convention manager, also downplayed the lack of Trump support so far from the Republican establishment.
He suggested the country is still trying to process Trump becoming the presumptive nominee with an unexpected win Tuesday in the Indiana primary that knocked out the last two GOP rivals -- Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
“It’s a healing process,” Manafort said Sunday. “The media's expectations that the day after the Indiana primary … everything was going to come together in one moment was unrealistic.”
He also argued that Trump ran as an outsider and wasn't a candidate of the leaders.
“We have plenty of time to put the party together,” Manafort said. “And I think you're going to see a successful, united party.”
He also defended Trump for his attacks on Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, including bringing up the infidelity of husband President Bill Clinton and how she handled the aftermath.
He argued that Hillary Clinton has accused Trump of being unfair to women.
“Donald Trump has made it very clear he is not going to allow hypocrisy on the women's issue,” Manafort said. “He is not going to let Hillary make the case that he is against women and she is this defender of women's rights.”

Army has fewest active duty soldiers since 1940, report says

KT McFarland blasts Obama's 'cynical' use of the US military

The number of U.S. Army soldiers on active duty has been reduced to its lowest since 1940, according to a published report.
The Army Times reported this weekend that the Army's endstrength for March was 479,172. That's 154 fewer soldiers than the service's previous post-World War II low, which was reached during the Army's post-Cold War drawdown in 1999.
The current number is still well above the 269,023 soldiers on duty in 1940, the year before America entered World War II. However, the report says the active force has been reduced by more than 16,500 troops over the past year — the equivalent of about three brigades.
According to the Army Times, the Army is on track to reach its goal of reducing the number of active duty troops to 475,000 by Sept. 30, the end of fiscal year 2016. Under a drawdown plan unveiled last July, the number of active-duty soldiers would be reduced to 460,000 soldiers by the end of fiscal year 2017 and 450,000 by the end of fiscal year 2018, barring action by Congress or the Pentagon.
If those targets are met, the number of soldiers on active duty would be down 20 percent from 2010, when there were nearly 570,000 soldiers on active duty.
When the Army presented its plan last July, military officials said their hands were tied by reduced funding levels.
"These are not cuts the Army wants to make, these are cuts required by budget environment in which we operate," Gen. Daniel Allyn, vice chief of staff of the Army, said at the time. "This 40,000 soldier cut ... will only get us to the program force, it does not deal with the continued threat of sequestration."
The Army Times report said that 2,600 soldiers departed active service in March without being replaced.
In addition to those on active duty, the Army has 548,024 soldiers in reserve, for a total force of 1,027,196 soldiers. Under the drawdown plan, the total force number would be reduced to 980,000 by the end of fiscal year 2018.

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Gregg Jarrett: The real reason the FBI interviewed Hillary's closest aide

Fox News has confirmed that the FBI has interviewed Huma Abedin, top aide to Hillary Clinton, as part of its investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email and whether classified information was willfully transmitted on her unsecured network.  The FBI may also have interviewed other current and former Clinton staffers.  This suggests the case may be approaching a conclusion.  Clinton, herself, could be interviewed very soon.
  Abedin Is a Key Witness
Abedin is a valued source of information because she apparently used an email on Clinton’s private system.  She may have voiced concerns about whether the server was violating the law or, equally important, discussed how the law could be circumvented.

She and other staffers were surely questioned about the 2,200 classified communications contained on the server, including the 22 documents that were “top secret”.  How did they end up on the unauthorized system?  Did the aides have clearance to read them?  Didn’t they know they were classified?  Were classified markings erased?  Who decided to delete thousands of emails which were government property?  Who ordered the server to be “wiped clean”?  Depending on the answers to these crucial questions, the aides could find themselves in legal jeopardy.  So could Hillary Clinton.
  Clinton’s Intent Is Irrelevant
Unnamed sources close to the investigation are reported to have said that the FBI has found no evidence to prove Clinton intended to violate the law.  That sounds important, but it is not.  The operative legal issue is not whether she intended to break the law, but whether she knowingly and intentionally stored classified information on her unauthorized server.  Here is the specific law:

“Whoever… knowingly removes (classified) documents or materials without authority and with the intent to retain such documents or materials at an unauthorized location shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.”   (18 U.S.C., section 1924)    

The statute says nothing about an intent to violate the law. It is an important distinction.  Clearly, Clinton intended to create a private server for use as her exclusive means of conducting official business as Secretary of State.  She also knew it was not authorized because she never sought authorization from the relevant agencies.  At the same time, she knew her unauthorized server would collect, retain and transmit classified documents during her four year term and intended it to do so.
This would appear to violate the language of the statute. She can hardly claim she did not recognize classified material… because that would be arguing her own incompetence.
  Ignorance of the Law
Is it possible for Clinton to argue that she did not know she was breaking the law?  She can try, but in a court of law it is no defense.  Ignorance of the law is never an excuse.  Otherwise, everyone accused of a crime would play dumb.  “Gee, I didn’t know my actions were a crime!”

Moreover, Clinton knew the law because she was specifically instructed on the law when she took office.  She received a “national security indoctrination” –a tutorial on the law of classified materials.  Thereafter, she signed a sworn “non-disclosure agreement” promising never to convey classified material to an unauthorized person or place.

In that same agreement, Clinton was also warned that classified material can be either marked or unmarked.  The content dictates its classification, not the markings.  So, her previous claims that nothing was marked classified is not a defense.  This is especially true since Clinton reportedly authored 104 of the classified emails herself.  Surely, she knew what she was writing.
  Gross Negligence
President Obama recently called Clinton’s handling of the classified emails “careless”, but not intentional, as if that makes it okay.  However, carelessness is sufficient to be convicted of a crime.  The following statute specifically addresses this issue:

“Whoever… through gross negligence permits (classified information) to be removed from its proper place of custody… shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.”  (18 U.S.C., section 793-f)            

In plain language, gross negligence is the standard, not intent.  Carelessness or recklessness are synonymous with gross negligence.  Thus, by implying that Clinton did nothing illegal because she was merely “careless”, President Obama is either legally mistaken or deliberately communicating a falsehood. 
 If the president, a trained lawyer, thought he was exculpating Clinton… he was, in truth, implicating her in a violation of the law.