Trump slams 'rigged system' over claim Comey 'exonerated' Clinton before probe ended

President Trump on Friday slammed what he called a “rigged system” following reports that former FBI Director James Comey began drafting an “exoneration statement” for Hillary Clinton before interviewing her in connection with her private email use as secretary of state.  

“Wow, looks like James Comey exonerated Hillary Clinton long before the investigation was over…and so much more. A rigged system!” Trump tweeted early Friday.

The president was referring to allegations made this week by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
In a news release Thursday, the senators said Comey began drafting the exoneration statement in April or May 2016, which was before the FBI interviewed 17 key witnesses, including Clinton herself and other top aides.
COMEY BEGAN DRAFTING 'EXONERATION STATEMENT' BEFORE INTERVIEWING KEY WITNESSES, SENATORS SAY
“Conclusion first, fact-gathering second—that’s no way to run an investigation,” they wrote in a letter this week to the FBI. “The FBI should be held to a higher standard than that, especially in a matter of such great public interest and controversy.”
Grassley and Graham said they learned about the draft after reviewing transcripts of interviews with top Comey aides.
“According to the unredacted portions of the transcripts, it appears that in April or early May of 2016, Mr. Comey had already decided he would issue a statement exonerating Secretary Clinton,” the senators said.
They added, “That was long before FBI agents finished their work. Mr. Comey even circulated an early draft statement to select members of senior FBI leadership. The outcome of an investigation should not be prejudged while FBI agents are still hard at work trying to gather the facts.”
Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016, was investigated by the FBI for using a private email address and server to handle classified information while serving as secretary of state.
In July 2016, Comey famously called Clinton’s email arrangement “extremely careless” though he decided against recommending criminal charges.
The transcripts in question were from interviews conducted by the Office of Special Counsel, which interviewed James Rybicki, Comey’s chief of staff, and Trisha Anderson, the principal deputy general counsel of national security and cyberlaw, the senators said.
“It is unclear whether the FBI agents actually investigating the case were aware that Mr. Comey had already decided on the investigation’s outcome while their work was ongoing,” the senators wrote.
In the Wednesday letter to FBI Director Chris Wray, the two senators said they have requested all records relating to the drafting of the statement.
Comey was fired as FBI director by Trump in May amid tensions over the Russia investigation.

Obama Becomes Most Expensive Ex-President in U.S. History

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Barack Obama becomes the most expensive ex-president in U.S. history, costing taxpayers almost $1.2 million a year.
Obama’s official allowance for 2018 is the highest among the five living ex-presidents, exceeding George Bush’s budget by $100,000 and Bill Clinton’s by $200,000.
Despite claiming his presidency empowered the disadvantaged, Obama made a dent in Americans’ pockets with shared responsibility payments.
Now his office in D.C. is the most expensive of all other ex-presidents’ and will cost taxpayers $536,000.
His pension is also the highest at around $236,000.
Not only did Barack and Michelle Obama leave the White House as multi-millionaires, they also put a hefty price tag on on their public speaking services.
One speech from the former president could cost up to $400,000.

Russia Promises Tough Response Over Consulate Closures

Black smoke rises from the roof of the Consulate-General of Russia Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, in San Francisco. The U.S. on Thursday ordered Russia to shut its San Francisco consulate and close offices in Washington and New York within 48 hours in response to Russia’s decision last month to cut U.S. diplomatic staff in Russia. Fireman were called to the consul, but were turned away after being told there was no problem. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

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Russia promises a tough response to a U.S. order to shutdown Russian consulates in the U.S.
This comes after the White House gave Russia 48 hours Thursday to follow through with its request.
U.S. officials describe the move as retaliation to the Kremlin’s demand for the U.S. to cut its diplomatic staff in Russia following new sanctions imposed by the White House.
Russian officials say they were surprised by the move, and claim the conflict between the two nations was started by the U.S.
The country’s foreign minister said Moscow will reply with firmness, but has not yet settled on how to retaliate.
“I’d like to mention that the closure of the consulate in San Francisco was accompanied by the request to clear it within two days, said Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “We gave the Americans a month to bring the number of diplomatic personnel in accordance with the number of our personnel in the United States, but they kicked out our 35 people with families within two days and now they force us to close a consulate within two days.”
Lavrov said Russia’s decision to cut diplomatic ties came as a response to the U.S. expelling Russian diplomats last December.

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Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke resigns

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, one of the highest-profile members of law enforcement to emerge as a vocal supporter of President Trump, resigned from his position on Thursday.

County Clerk George Christenson said that he received a resignation letter from Clarke but that no reason for the move was provided.

Clarke issued a "retirement statement" to local media hours after his resignation was announced. "After almost forty years serving the great people of Milwaukee County, I have chosen to retire to pursue other opportunities," Clarke wrote. "I will have news about my next steps in the very near future."
In June, Clarke announced that he had rescinded his acceptance of a post in the Office of Public Engagement for the Department of Homeland Security. However, the office had never confirmed that it offered him the job, in which he would have served as a liaison between DHS and state and local law enforcement.
Clarke, a tough-on-crime conservative Democrat, had built a following among conservatives with his provocative social media presence and for his support of President Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign. He also spoke at the Republican National Convention last summer. But he later was accused of plagiarism in his master’s thesis at the Naval Postgraduate School.
Clarke denied the report in which it was claimed that he failed to properly attribute his sources at least 47 times in his 2013 thesis, titled "Making U.S. security and privacy rights compatible."
In an email to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Clarke wrote, "only someone with a political agenda would say this is plagiarism."
He also drew criticism for conditions in his jails. A mentally ill inmate allegedly died after being deprived of water as punishment, prosecutors said.
Some Wisconsin conservatives had encouraged Clarke to challenge U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, but he repeatedly rejected their overtures.
Clarke recently published a memoir, "Cop Under Fire."
There was no immediate word on a replacement.

Trump pushing for $6 billion in Harvey recovery funding

President Trump is requesting that nearly $6 billion be made available for the Harvey recovery process.

The administration urged Congress on Thursday to approve and provide $5.95 billion for the initial response and recovery efforts related to the devastating hurricane affecting parts of Texas and Louisiana, Axios reported.

A senior administration official told the website that White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney will be calling Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill this week, asking them for their support on the funding plan.
The official added that the Trump administration believes the requested amount will be more than enough to support hurricane recovery efforts until year's end.
If approved by Congress, $5.5 billion would go to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for its disaster relief operations and $450 million to the Small Business Administration to assist affected businesses.
To access the funding, the U.S. debt limit would have to be increased – a move that would aim at lowering the risk of default, Bloomberg Politics reported.
A separate official told the news site that the White House was looking to extend the limit long enough to move back the threat of default until Congress is able to draft a budget for the full federal fiscal year.
Trump has expressed his desire to move swiftly on recovery efforts and rebuild damaged areas in Houston and southeast Texas. Some Democrats have said that the area could need more than $150 billion in federal aid. The initial request is expected to be a down payment on a larger federal aid package, the Washington Post reported.
The news came on the same day that President Trump pledged $1 million of his personal money to aid victims of Hurricane Harvey in both Texas and Louisiana.
“The president is pledging a million dollars of personal money to help,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters Thursday.
Sanders said the president asked that she “check with” reporters for “suggestions” on groups and organizations that would be “best and most effective in providing aid.”
The press secretary was asked whether Trump would pay the $1 million from his personal funds, or from the Trump Organization.
“I know the president said he was going to give — I don’t know the legal part of exactly that, but he said his personal money,” Sanders answered. “So I assume that comes directly from him.”
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed reporting to this story.
Perry Chiaramonte is a reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @perrych

China Criticizes U.S. Push For New Sanctions On N. Korea

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi. (REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov)

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China’s foreign ministry is criticizing the U.S. over its push to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea.
Officials in Beijing oppose the practice of unilateral sanctions, and what it calls “long-arm jurisdiction” in agreement of one country’s domestic law.
China also called for earnest, comprehensive, and thorough implementation of the existing U.N. Security Council resolutions.
“We think it is regrettable that some countries selectively overlook the relevant Security Council resolutions’ demand to advance dialogue, and stubbornly emphasize pressure and sanctions, said Hua Chunying, a spokeswomen for the Chinese foreign ministry. “They are always holding back China’s efforts to promote dialogue, and making irresponsible remarks every time there is renewed tension on the peninsula.”
China expressed hope all sides in the ongoing crisis will make rational and wise choices for the sake of peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.

House Committee Delays Hearing On Net Neutrality Due to Obstruction

FILE PHOTO – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) logo is seen before the FCC Net Neutrality hearing in Washington February 26, 2015. (REUTERS/Yuri Gripas)

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A key House Committee delays a hearing on net neutrality after not one of the eight major tech companies showed up to testify.
GOP members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are seeking to establish legislative net neutrality, which is currently subject to regulation by the FCC.
The FCC’s duty is to ensure internet service providers treat all internet data the same, regardless of user content, website, or platform.
Some Democrats favor the FCC’s takeover of the internet.
“We need those rules in place to put a check on this consolidation that’s happening among these big companies,” said Representative John Sarbanes. “That’s why an open internet has to be preserved by keeping these rules in place, and I don’t understand, I cannot understand why the new head of the FCC would want to get rid of that authority.”
Experts say legislative net neutrality would deprive both the FCC and major internet providers of control over the internet.
In July, House Republican leaders threatened that if internet providers kept objecting net neutrality other policies could become tougher on them.

Antifa Cartoons

Pelosi on violent Antifa members: Lock them up

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says the "violent" members of Antifa — those members of the anti-fascist group who allegedly attacked conservative demonstrators over the weekend in Berkeley, Calif. — should be arrested and prosecuted.

"Our democracy has no room for inciting violence or endangering the public, no matter the ideology of those who commit such acts," Pelosi said in a statement Wednesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. "The violent actions of people calling themselves Antifa in Berkeley this weekend deserve unequivocal condemnation."

The article pointed out that the famous California liberal distanced the Democratic Party from the group.
In addition, Pelosi told the Denver Post’s editorial board: “You’re not talking about the far left of the Democratic Party — they’re not even Democrats. A lot of them are socialists or anarchists or whatever.”
Thirteen people were arrested and five others were injured Sunday after more than 100 black-clad, hooded protesters with masks and weapons attacked and overwhelmed peaceful demonstrators.
"They came with black masks, they carried weapons, they were pounding people down with their fists and feet," University of California-Berkeley College Republican Ashton Whitty told Fox News' "The Story with Martha MacCallum" Monday night. "I knew I had to get out of there.
"Everything was great until Antifa showed up," Whitty added.
Pelosi, who represents a district in neighboring San Francisco, had been criticized for not condemning the Antifa violence as forcefully as she had warned about the potential for unrest at a Patriot Prayer rally that had been planned for Saturday.
Berkeley's mayor, Jesse Arreguin, had previously spoken out against Antifa, saying the group should be classified "as a gang."
"They come dressed in uniforms," Arreguin said. "They have weapons, almost like a militia, and I think we need to think about that in terms of our law enforcement approach."