Former FBI agent charged with leaking classified docs to expose 'systemic biases': report

A former FBI agent in Minnesota has reportedly been charged with leaking classified information to a national news outlet to expose 'system biases' at the agency.

A black former FBI agent in Minneapolis, seeking to expose what his attorneys called "systemic biases" at the agency, was charged this week with illegally disseminating classified information, according to a report.
Terry J. Albury, who joined the FBI in 2000, allegedly sent two classified documents to a reporter at an unspecified national media organization, according to charging documents obtained by the Star Tribune of Minneapolis.
Albury's prosecution comes months after Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Trump administration promised to cut down on leaks in the federal government.
The former agent was charged with two counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information. Prosecutors filed a felony information, which signals that Albury is expected to plead guilty.
One of the leaked documents reportedly pertains to the agency's methods for assessing confidential informants, while the other relates to "threats posed by certain individuals from a particular Middle Eastern country," according to the information.
GOWDY: WOULDN'T SURPRISE ME IF SOMEONE AT FBI WAS LEAKING TO MEDIA

FBI Director Christopher Wray was recently criticized by Attorney General Jeff Sessions for the agency's 'unacceptable' pace.  (Reuters)

Albury shared the documents sometime between February 2016 and Jan. 31, 2017, prosecutors allege. He had most recently been assigned to counterterrorism operations at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Albury's attorneys, JaneAnne Murray and Joshua Dratel, said in a statement that Albury served the U.S. with distinction domestically and in Iraq and "accepts full responsibility for the conduct set forth in the Information.
"We would like to add that as the only African-American FBI field agent in Minnesota, Mr. Albury’s actions were driven by a conscientious commitment to long-term national security and addressing the well-documented systemic biases within the FBI," the attorneys added.

FBI'S McCABE SUSPECTED IN LEAK AGAINST WHITE HOUSE
Prosecutors don't name a reporter or news organization, but on Jan. 31 of last year, the Intercept posted a story about how the FBI assesses and manages informants.

"The use of the Espionage Act to prosecute whistleblowers seeking to shed light on matters of vital public concern is an outrage."
- The Intercept editor-in-chief Betsy Reed

The story references a secret document dated Aug. 17, 2011, that deals with assessing informants and recruiting them by identifying their "motivations and vulnerabilities."
In a statement, the Intercept editor-in-chief Betsy Reed sharply criticized whistleblower prosecutions without specifically discussing Albury's alleged involvement.
“We do not discuss anonymous sources," Reed said. "The use of the Espionage Act to prosecute whistleblowers seeking to shed light on matters of vital public concern is an outrage, and all journalists have the right under the First Amendment to report these stories.”
The Trump administration has made prosecuting government employees who leak sensitive information to the media a high priority.
Last year, Sessions pledged to clamp down on leaks, noting that the Justice Department had more than tripled the number of active leak investigations since President Barack Obama left office and that the FBI had created a new counterintelligence unit to focus on such cases.
He told members of Congress in November that the department was conducting 27 investigations into leaks of classified information.
The local FBI office referred questions to the Justice Department, which is handling the case. A spokesman with the Justice Department declined to comment beyond the charging documents.
The search warrant applications say the FBI linked references to secret documents in data requests filed by the Intercept to Albury's activity on the bureau's information systems.
The FBI also later identified 27 documents — 16 marked classified — that the Intercept published, and found that Albury had accessed more than two-thirds of them.
The charges filed Tuesday also allege that from April 7, 2017, to Aug. 28, 2017, Albury willfully kept a document about an online platform used by a specific terrorist group for recruitment, and failed to give it to an officer and federal employee who was entitled to it.

DOJ Inspector General reviews alleged FISA abuses by DOJ, FBI

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced Wednesday he will review potential Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) abuses by both the Justice Department and the FBI, following requests from Congress and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The Office of the Inspector General released a statement Wednesday outlining the start of the review.
“The OIG will initiate a review that will examine the Justice Department’s and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s compliance with legal requirements, and with applicable DOJ and FBI policies and procedures, in applications filed with the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) relating to a certain U.S. person,” the statement obtained by Fox News read. “As part of this examination, the OIG also will review information that was known to the DOJ and the FBI at the time the applications were filed from or about an alleged FBI confidential source.”
The OIG statement added that Horowitz also would “review the DOJ’s and FBI’s relationship and communications with the alleged source as they relate to the FISC applications.”
The statement continued, “If circumstances warrant, the OIG will consider including other issues that may arise during the course of the review.”
Last month, Sessions directed Horowitz to probe the allegations of government surveillance abuse, in light of memos released on Capitol Hill by the House Intelligence Committee about FBI and DOJ efforts to obtain FISA warrants to surveil Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
“We believe the Department of Justice must adhere to the high standards in the FISA court,” Sessions said in February at a news conference. “Yes it will be investigated. And I think that’s just the appropriate thing the inspector general will take that as one of the matters he’ll deal with.”
“Thus far, members of Congress and Russian entrepreneurs in U.S. courts have made the greatest initial progress in getting to the bottom of Washington’s illegal influence on the 2016 election. Whereas many of these illicit schemes allegedly occurred in part within DOJ, it’s encouraging that members of their staff are now investigating the increasingly clear pattern of wrongdoing,” Page told Fox News on Wednesday.
House Intel Republicans released a memo in late February detailing the DOJ's and FBI’s surveillance of Page, saying the infamous anti-Trump dossier funded by Democrats “formed an essential part” of the application to spy on him.
The dossier, authored by former British spy Christopher Steele and commissioned by Fusion GPS, was funded in part by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign through the law firm Perkins Coie. It included salacious and unverified allegations about President Trump’s connections to Russia.
The Republican memo stated that former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe testified that “no surveillance warrant would have been sought” from the FISA court “without the Steele dossier information.”
The memo also said Steele, who worked as an FBI informant, eventually was cut off from the bureau for what the FBI described as the most serious of violations, “an unauthorized disclosure to the media of his relationship with the FBI.”
The memo noted that the FBI and DOJ obtained “one initial FISA warrant” targeting Page and three FISA renewals from the FISC. The statute required that every 90 days, a FISA order on an American citizen “must be reviewed.”
Former FBI Director James Comey signed three FISA applications for Page, while McCabe, current Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who leads the Russia probe, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and former Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente signed at least one, according the Republican memo.
Democrats, then, released a rebuttal memo.
The White House said the GOP memo raised “serious concerns about the integrity of decisions made at the highest levels of the Department of Justice and the FBI to use the government’s most intrusive surveillance tools against American citizens.”
Republican lawmakers and Sessions had been pressing Horowitz to probe the alleged FISA abuses.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he was "grateful" that Horowitz had decided to review the FISA application and the FBI's relationship with Steele.
"Federal surveillance authority is an important tool to combat terrorism and keep Americans safe, but it must be used by the book in order to protect the constitutional rights and civil liberties of all Americans," Grassley said. "We need to be sure that improper political influence, misconduct or mismanagement is never a factor when federal law enforcement seeks permission to secretly surveil Americans."
In January, Grassley and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., referred Steele to the Justice Department and the FBI for criminal investigation, alleging that Steele had made false statements to authorities about the dossier.
Earlier this week, FBI Director Christopher Wray announced plans to “double the number” of agents handing records for the House Judiciary Committee after it subpoenaed the Justice Department for documents on FISA, the Clinton email investigation and the firing of McCabe.
Over the last year, Horowitz has been conducting a review of the FBI's and DOJ’s actions related to the investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. A final report on the investigation is expected in several months.

Documents suggest possible coordination between CIA, FBI, Obama WH and Dem officials early in Trump-Russia probe: investigators

Newly uncovered text messages between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page suggest a possible coordination between high-ranking officials at the Obama White House, CIA, FBI, Justice Department and former Senate Democratic leadership in the early stages of the investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, according to GOP congressional investigators on Wednesday.
The investigators say the information provided to Fox News “strongly” suggests coordination between former President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, then-Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, and CIA Director John Brennan — which they say would “contradict” the Obama administration’s public stance about its hand in the process.
Page texted Strzok on Aug. 2, 2016, saying: “Make sure you can lawfully protect what you sign. Just thinking about congress, foia, etc. You probably know better than me.”
A text message from Strzok to Page on Aug. 3 described former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe as being concerned with “information control” related to the initial investigation into the Trump campaign. According to a report from the New York Times, Brennan was sent to Capitol Hill around the same time to brief members of Congress on the possibility of election interference.
Days later, on Aug. 8, 2016, Strzok texted Page: “Internal joint cyber cd intel piece for D, scenesetter for McDonough brief, Trainor [head of FBI cyber division] directed all cyber info be pulled. I’d let Bill and Jim hammer it out first, though it would be best for D to have it before the Wed WH session.”
In the texts, “D” referred to FBI Director James Comey, and and “McDonough” referred to Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, the GOP investigators said.

FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page texted about a briefing given to former Obama Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, seen here.  (Reuters)

“We are not making conclusions. What we are saying is that the timeline is concerning enough to warrant the appointment of an independent investigator to look at whether or not the Obama White House was involved [in the Trump-Russia investigation],” a GOP congressional source told Fox News.
An FBI spokesman did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
The congressional investigators pointed out to Fox News that the CIA and FBI are supposed to be “independent agencies,” and noted that “coordination between political actors at the White House and investigators would be inappropriate,” raising questions about the level of involvement of Obama White House officials.

Former CIA Director John Brennan, seen here, briefed then-Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., two days before the Democratic leader wrote a letter to Comey.  (AP, File)

But weeks later, on August 25, 2016, Brennan went to Capitol Hill to brief Harry Reid — and it was unclear whether FBI officials attended the briefing, a congressional source told Fox News.
Two days after the briefing, Reid penned a letter to Comey requesting an investigation into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
“The evidence of a direct connection between the Russian government and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign continues to mount and has led Michael Morrell, the former Acting Central Intelligence Director, to call Trump an ‘unwitting agent’ of Russia and the Kremlin,” Reid, a Nevada Democrat, wrote. “The prospect of a hostile government actively seeking to undermine our free and fair elections represents one of the gravest threats to our democracy since the Cold War and it is critical for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to use every resource available to investigate this matter thoroughly and in a timely fashion.”
Reid cited reports in his letter, noting “methods” Russia was using to influence the Trump campaign and “manipulate it as a vehicle for advancing the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
Reid added that “recent staff changes within the Trump campaign have made clear that the Trump campaign has employed a number of individuals with significant and disturbing ties to Russia and the Kremlin,” urging Comey to make the investigation “public.”
The New York Times first reported on Reid’s letter to Comey on Aug. 29, 2016.

Former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, seen here, penned a letter in August 2016 to former FBI Director James Comey requesting an investigation into potential collusion with Trump campaign associates and Russia.  (AP)

The following day, Aug. 30, 2016, Strzok texted Page: “Here we go,” sending a link to the Times report titled, “Harry Reid Cites Evidence of Russian Tampering in U.S. Vote and seeks FBI inquiry.”
Strzok replied: “D [Comey] said at am brief that Reid called him and told him he would be sending a letter.”
Congressional investigators suggested that the Reid letter possibly provided “cover” for the fact that the FBI and Justice Department had already begun investigating the Trump campaign in mid-July on what they called “questionable ethical and legal grounds.”
“The ‘here we go’ text between Strzok and Page indicates the FBI/ DOJ knew the letter from Reid was coming,” a congressional source told Fox News. “This created the inference they knew it would create public calls for an investigation into Russian interference — covering them.”
The source told Fox News on Wednesday that investigators were neither “passing judgement” nor “claiming a smoking gun,” but suggested that the timeline was “incredibly concerning.”
“At some point, the amount of concerning information becomes enough for a special counsel to look into it.”

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to meet with South Korean president at border

North Korea's Kim Jung Un will meet next month with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a border village in a high-profile meeting that could prove significant in global efforts to resolve a decades-long standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear program.
The announcement was made after officials met at the border village of Panmunjom. The Koreas plan to hold another preparatory meeting on April 4 to discuss protocol, security and media coverage issues during the April 27 meeting, according to a joint statement released by the countries.
Few other details were released.

March 29: South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, left, shakes hands with North Korean delegation head Ri Son Gwon before their meeting at the northern side of the Panmunjom, North Korea.  (Korea Pool via AP)

The leaders of the two Koreas have held talks only twice since the 1950-53 Korean War, in 2000 and 2007, under previous liberal governments in Seoul.
A top South Korean official told reporters that setting up dialogue to eliminate Kim's nuclear weapons program would be a critical point of the meeting.
Ri Son Gwon, chairman of a state agency that deals with inter-Korean affairs, led the North’s three delegates, saying the past 80 days have been filled with "unprecedented historic events between the rivals,” referring to the Korea’s renewed talks before the Winter Olympics and the agreement on the summit.
He also expressed hopes for an outcome that would meet the "hope and desire of the nation."
Thursday’s announcement comes after a surprise meeting between Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, which goal appeared to seek improving relations ahead of the North’s planned talks with Moon and President Donald Trump.
In setting up separate talks with Beijing, Seoul, Washington, and potentially with Moscow and Tokyo, North Korea may be moving to disrupt any united front among its negotiating counterparts. By reintroducing China, which is the North's only major ally, as a major player, North Korea also gains leverage against South Korea and the United States, analysts say.
Washington and Seoul have said Kim previously told South Korean envoys that he was willing to put his nukes up for negotiation in his talks with President Donald Trump. However, the North has yet to officially confirm its interest in a summit between Kim and Trump.

Planned Parenthood Cartoons

Backlash after Planned Parenthood branch tweets: 'We need a Disney princess who's had an abortion'

A local Planned Parenthood office in Pennsylvania had some advice for the creators at Disney Tuesday after tweeting about the need for princesses who have “had an abortion” or are “trans.”
The tweet from Planned Parenthood Keystone, which was viewed by Fox News but has since been deleted, said, “We need a disney princess who’s had an abortion. We need a disney princess who’s pro-choice. We need a disney princess who’s an undocumented immigrant. We need a disney princess who’s actually a union worker. We need a disney princess who’s trans.”
The tweet was posted around 9:30 a.m. and taken down a few hours later.
Social media users later shared captured screenshots of the post.
In a statement provided to Fox News, Planned Parenthood Keystone President and CEO Melissa Reed said "Planned Parenthood believes that pop culture - television shows, music, movies - has a critical role to play in educating the public and sparking meaningful conversations around sexual and reproductive health issues and policies, including abortion. We also know that emotionally authentic portrayals of these experiences are still extremely rare - and that's part of a much bigger lack of honest depictions of certain people's lives and communities.
"Today, we joined an ongoing Twitter conversation about the kinds of princesses people want to see in an attempt to make a point about the importance of telling stories that challenge stigma and championing stories that too often don't get told," Reed said. "Upon reflection, we decided that the seriousness of the point we were trying to make was not appropriate for the subject matter or contect, and we removed the tweet."
The tweet quickly sparked a social media backlash.
"We need a disney princess who can stop my money from going to planned parenthood where they spend it on killing future princesses," one user wrote. Another deemed the tweet "disgusting" and an attempt to "indoctrinate our kids."
The decision not to defund Planned Parenthood was amongst the criticisms leveled against the $1.3 trillion spending bill President Trump signed last week.

Illegal immigrant cop killer smirks at death sentence-- and victims’ families grin back

Illegal immigrant Luis Bracamontes smiled again Tuesday as a California jury handed him a death sentence following his conviction in the 2014 killing of two sheriff's deputies, but this time, the deputies' families gave the cold-blooded killer a taste of his own medicine.
"I was smiling back at him purposely," Jeri Oliver, Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy Danny Oliver's mother, told The Sacarmento Bee after court. Debbie McMahon, the mother of fallen Placer County Sheriff Detective Michael Davis Jr., agreed “to smile at him for a change."
The convicted cop killer made headlines during his trial in January when he smiled and went into a profanity-laced rant in court, saying, “I wish I had killed more of the mother-------s,” and promised to “kill more, kill whoever gets in front of me ... There's no need for a f---ing trial."
He also shouted in court that he was guilty and asked to be put to death. The defense tried to convince the judge to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.
After hours of deliberation Tuesday, a Sacramento Superior Court jury ruled that Bracamontes will get what he asked for and receive the death penalty for his heinous crimes.
As the verdict was being read, the illegal immigrant from Mexico was silently clapping and smiling, sometimes at the families of the slain deputies, the Sacramento Bee reported.
Bracamontes went on a multi-county killing rampage in 2014, murdering Oliver and Davis.
The ruling comes just days after Janelle Monroy, his wife, was sentenced to nearly 50 years in prison for helping her husband to murder the deputies. The jury dismissed her argument last month that she feared Bracamontes would kill her if she did not help him.
WIFE WHO AIDED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT HUSBAND IN SLAYINGS OF 2 SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES GETS 50 YEARS

Bracamontes' wife, Janelle Monroy, was sentenced last week to 50 years in prison.  (Sacramento Bee via Associated Press)

Family members and law enforcement officials were reluctant to speak out during the trial, but on the verdict day, many finally voiced their views.
"I feel free to say it now. He's a despicable and evil human being and the death penalty is totally appropriate," Placer Sheriff Devon Bell told the Bee. Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones said the verdict “is a step along the road toward justice.”

A photo of slain Sacramento County sheriff's Deputy Danny Oliver.  (Associated Press)

Despite the sentence, however, it remains to be seen whether Bracamontes will actually be put to death. The last time California executed an inmate was in 2006. An average waiting time for the execution is nearly 18 years due to legal challenges to the state’s methods of execution.
The convicted cop killer will return to court in late April for a formal sentencing by the judge. Families of the killed officers will address the court and Bracamontes.

"I feel free to say it now. He's a despicable and evil human being and the death penalty is totally appropriate."

Kim Jong Un meets with Chinese leader on 'unofficial visit,' state media says

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on an "unofficial visit" to Beijing, China's state-run media reported late Tuesday.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing North Korean state radio, reported that Kim had visited China between Sunday and Wednesday local time at Xi's invitation and was accompanied by his wife, Ri Sol Ju.
Xi held talks with Kim at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and he and his wife Peng Liyuan hosted a banquet for Kim and his wife, the official Xinhua news agency said. They also watched an art performance together, the news agency said.
Xi hailed Kim's visit as embodying the importance with which the North Korean leader regarded ties with China.
"We speak highly of this visit," Xi told Kim, according to Xinhua.
In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said: "The Chinese government contacted the White House earlier on Tuesday to brief us on Kim Jong Un's visit to Beijing. The briefing included a personal message from President Xi to President Trump, which has been conveyed to President Trump.
"The United States remains in close contact with our allies South Korea and Japan," Sanders added. "We see this development as further evidence that our campaign of maximum pressure is creating the appropriate atmosphere for dialogue with North Korea."
Kim was described by Xinhua as saying that his country wants to transform ties with South Korea into "a relationship of reconciliation and cooperation." The two Koreas are still technically at war because their 1950-53 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency published Kim's personal letter to Xi dated on Wednesday, where he expressed gratitude to the Chinese leadership for showing what he described as "heartwarming hospitality" during his "productive" visit.
Kim said that the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries will provide a "groundbreaking milestone" in developing mutual relations to "meet the demands of the new era." Kim also said that he's satisfied that the leaders confirmed their "unified opinions" on mutual issues.
In a speech at a banquet in China, Kim described the traditional allies as inseparable "neighboring brothers" with a relationship molded by a "scared mutual fight" to achieve socialist ideals, according to KCNA.
"It's most proper that my first overseas trip would be the capital of the People's Republic of China as it's also one of my noble duties to value the North Korea-China friendship as I do my own life and extend it (for another generation)," said Kim, according to the agency.
The North Korean leader is expected to hold separate summits with South Korean President Moon Jae In in late April and U.S. President Donald Trump in May. Analysts say Kim would have felt a need to consult with his country's traditional ally ahead of his planned meetings.
China remains North Korea's only major ally and chief provider of energy, aid and trade that keep the country's broken economy afloat.
The North's diplomatic outreach to Seoul and Washington came after an unusually provocative year when it conducted its most powerful nuclear test to date and three ICBMs tests designed to target the U.S. mainland.
The developments were interpreted as the North being desperate to break out of isolation and improve its economy after being squeezed by heavy sanctions.