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The Senate Judiciary Committee has opened a probe into former Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch’s efforts to shape the FBI’s investigation into 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, the committee’s chairman announced Friday.
In a letter to Ms. Lynch, the committee asks her to detail the depths of her involvement in the FBI’s investigation, including whether she ever assured Clinton confidantes that the probe wouldn’t “push too deeply into the matter.”
Fired FBI Director James B. Comey has said publicly that Ms. Lynch tried to shape the way he talked about the investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s emails, and he also hinted at other behavior “which I cannot talk about yet” that made him worried about Ms. Lynch’s ability to make impartial decisions.
Source
In April, The New York Times reported that the FBI came into possession of a batch of hacked documents, one of which was said to be authored by a “Democratic operative who expressed confidence that Ms. Lynch would keep the Clinton investigation from going too far.” Chairman Grassley then requested a copy of the document from the Justice Department, which has failed to respond. A month later, The Washington Post reported similar facts and provided further details about individuals involved in these communications. The Post reported that the email in question, sent by then-chair of the Democratic National Committee Debbie Wasserman Schultz to Leonard Benardo of the Open Society Foundations, indicated that Lynch had privately assured Clinton campaign staffer Amanda Renteria that the FBI’s investigation wouldn’t “go too far.”
The Times found that this go-it-alone strategy was shaped by his distrust of senior officials at the Justice Department, who he and other F.B.I. officials felt had provided Mrs. Clinton with political cover. The distrust extended to his boss, Loretta E. Lynch, the attorney general, who Mr. Comey believed had subtly helped play down the Clinton investigation.
His misgivings were only fueled by the discovery last year of a document written by a Democratic operative that seemed — at least in the eyes of Mr. Comey and his aides — to raise questions about her independence.
The document, which has been described as both a memo and an email, was written by a Democratic operative who expressed confidence that Ms. Lynch would keep the Clinton investigation from going too far, according to several former officials familiar with the document.
A secret document that officials say played a key role in then-FBI Director James B. Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation has long been viewed within the FBI as unreliable and possibly a fake, according to people familiar with its contents.
In the midst of the 2016 presidential primary season, the FBI received what was described as a Russian intelligence document claiming a tacit understanding between the Clinton campaign and the Justice Department over the inquiry into whether she intentionally revealed classified information through her use of a private email server.
The Russian document cited a supposed email describing how then-Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch had privately assured someone in the Clinton campaign that the email investigation would not push too deeply into the matter.
New York Times
During Russia’s hacking campaign against the United States, intelligence agencies could peer, at times, into Russian networks and see what had been taken. Early last year, F.B.I. agents received a batch of hacked documents, and one caught their attention.
Washington Post
The document, obtained by the FBI, was a piece of purported analysis by Russian intelligence, the people said.
It referred to an email supposedly written by the then-chair of the Democratic National Committee, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), and sent to Leonard Benardo, an official with the Open Society Foundations, an organization founded by billionaire George Soros and dedicated to promoting democracy.
The Russian document did not contain a copy of the email, but it described some of the contents of the purported message.
In the supposed email, Wasserman Schultz claimed Lynch had been in private communication with a senior Clinton campaign staffer named Amanda Renteria during the campaign. The document indicated Lynch had told Renteria that she would not let the FBI investigation into Clinton go too far, according to people familiar with it.
Wasserman Schultz and Benardo said in separate interviews with The Washington Post that they do not know each other and have never communicated. Renteria, in an interview, and people familiar with Lynch’s account said the two also do not know each other and have never communicated. Lynch declined to comment for this article.
Moreover, Wasserman Schultz, Benardo and Renteria said they have never been interviewed by the FBI about the matter.
...the FBI has known for a long time that the Russian intelligence document is unreliable and based on multiple layers of hearsay.
“It didn’t mean anything to the investigation until after [senior FBI officials] had to defend themselves,” said one person familiar with the matter. “Then they decided it was important. But it’s junk, and they already knew that.”
Comey’s defenders still insist that there is reason to believe the document is legitimate and that it rightly played a major role in the director’s thinking.
“It was a very powerful factor in the decision to go forward in July with the statement that there shouldn’t be a prosecution,” said a person familiar with the matter. “The point is that the bureau picked up hacked material that hadn’t been dumped by the bad guys [the Russians] involving Lynch. And that would have pulled the rug out of any authoritative announcement.”
originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: Boadicea
I guess the obvious question would be....
If the Russians wanted to make Hillary look bad, why wouldn't they have made this email public? Even if it was fake, wouldn't they have released it?
I mean, if they created it, what did they create for.... if not to release it?
originally posted by: IAMTAT
originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: Boadicea
I guess the obvious question would be....
If the Russians wanted to make Hillary look bad, why wouldn't they have made this email public? Even if it was fake, wouldn't they have released it?
I mean, if they created it, what did they create for.... if not to release it?
Maybe the Russians were as certain as the Democrats that HRC would win.
Saving it for blackmail.
originally posted by: IAMTAT
Well, since this involves the Russians (Russian intelligence document) and possible collusion (Lynch, Comey, DWS, Benardo and Renteria)...it MUST be taken seriously and investigated.
originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: Boadicea
I guess the obvious question would be....
If the Russians wanted to make Hillary look bad, why wouldn't they have made this email public? Even if it was fake, wouldn't they have released it?
I mean, if they created it, what did they create for.... if not to release it?
originally posted by: Boadicea
originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: Boadicea
I guess the obvious question would be....
If the Russians wanted to make Hillary look bad, why wouldn't they have made this email public? Even if it was fake, wouldn't they have released it?
I mean, if they created it, what did they create for.... if not to release it?
Good questions. It just doesn't add up.
Likewise, if this is a real email, then why didn't it show up in the Wikileaks email dumps with other DNC and Clinton emails? Especially if Russia was really behind those dumps? What reason would they have to withhold that email?
Maybe the Russians were as certain as the Democrats that HRC would win.
Saving it for blackmail.
Lynch is dirty. She has aligned herself with the Clintons (who are the dirtiest of all). She met Bill on the tarmac (thankfully, it was only to discuss grandkids and whatnot). She told Comey to use 'matter' instead of 'investigation'.
I have serious doubts about the Russian hacking stories. I don't doubt that they hacked Hillary or the DNC, but....
I have yet to see any evidence that the Wikileaks dumps came via Russia.
I have heard a lot of Obama/Hillary minions claiming it.
Loretta Lynch & Her Relationship With The Clintons
Loretta Lynch is beholden to the Clintons.
Bill Clinton appointed Ms. Lynch to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York in 1999, jump-starting her career with the White House.
It isn’t a well-known fact Loretta Lynch was a litigation partner for eight years at a Washington law firm that served the Clintons. Loretta Lynch was with the international law firm Hogan & Hartson LLP from March of 2002 to April of 2010.
It isn’t a well-known fact Loretta Lynch was a litigation partner for eight years at a Washington law firm that served the Clintons.