FBI texts: Obama ‘wants to know everything we’re doing’
February 8, 2018 by admin
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A new report released Wednesday by a prominent Republican senator alleges texts between an FBI lawyer and an agent who was once part of Robert Mueller’s special counsel team show that then-President Barack Obama was keeping tabs on the agency’s investigation into the Hillary Clinton email scandal.
The report, by the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., focuses on the FBI’s Investigation into the scandal and includes 384 pages of texts between Peter Strzok, one of the top FBI agents who was assigned to the Mueller investigation, and Lisa Page, an FBI lawyer.
Johnson alleges in the report that one particular set of texts between Strzok and Page — who were romantically involved — revealed that the two had been tasked with preparing talking points for then-FBI Director James Comey because Obama apparently wanted to be kept abreast of the case.
In a Sept. 2, 2016, text exchange, Page writes that she was preparing the talking points because “potus wants to know everything we’re doing.” Potus is an acronym for president of the United States.
The report also notes that Comey had said he had not consulted with the Justice Department or the White House — a direct contradiction of the claims made in the texts between Page and Strzok.
Republicans have seized upon previously released text messages between Strzok and Page as evidence of a coordinated anti-Trump effort within the FBI, and Trump himself wasted no time in reacting to the latest texts.
“NEW FBI TEXTS ARE BOMBSHELLS!” the president tweeted Wednesday morning.
In the report, Johnson and his fellow Republicans wrote that the text about Obama “raises additional questions about the type and extent of President Obama’s personal involvement in the Clinton email scandal and the FBI investigation of it.”
The report adds that other questions that “deserve further examination” include whether “any personal animus and/or political bias influenced the FBI’s investigation,” and whether the Obama Justice Department or White House influenced the investigation.
Meanwhile, the report also included other texts between Strzok and Page that are overtly critical of Trump.
In a Aug. 6, 2016, text, for example, the couple discussed how their work was “meant to protect the country from that menace,” referring to Trump. Days later, on Aug. 15, they wrote that they “can’t take that risk” of a Trump presidency.
After the report’s release, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the latest tests “further shows that there is reason for us to have great cause for concern.”
Johnson, for his part, told NBC News that the texts were “totally candid, unvarnished” and “just raise an awful lot of questions.”
“They’re cryptic. They’re not complete, there is redactions in those things,” he added. The report says that the Justice Department had redacted some text messages that “were personal in nature or relating to other investigations.”
When asked, Johnson would not offer a vote of confidence in the current leadership at the FBI or the Department of Justice, saying only that he had “questions about some top level managers in those departments.”
The release of the texts comes two months after the Justice Department released 90 pages of other texts between Strzok and Page in which they expressed harsh criticism of Trump. When Mueller learned of the emails last summer, he removed Strzok from the team, a spokesman for Mueller’s office said.
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DC mayor’s office: Like the wall, Trump would have to pay for military parade
February 8, 2018 by admin
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A spokeswoman for D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Wednesday ruled out any notion of the District paying for President TrumpDonald John TrumpTillerson: Russia already looking to interfere in 2018 midterms Dems pick up deep-red legislative seat in Missouri Speier on Trump’s desire for military parade: ‘We have a Napoleon in the making’ MORE‘s proposed military parade, saying that Trump would have to pay for it himself.
Anu Rangappa said there has not yet been formal outreach to D.C. officials about the proposed parade.
“In the meantime, we do know that, just like the wall, he will have to pay for it,” she said, referring to Trump’s proposed border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Funding requests for that project have hit staunch opposition in Congress.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Pentagon officials, at the behest of Trump, were beginning to plan a military parade in Washington, similar to the Bastille Day parade Trump attended in France last year.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later confirmed that such an event is in the works.
“President Trump is incredibly supportive of America’s great service members who risk their lives every day to keep our country safe,” she said. “He has asked the Department of Defense to explore a celebration at which all Americans can show their appreciation.”
While the plan is reportedly in its early stages, such a parade could cost millions of dollars. Military officials told the Post that they did not know how the U.S. would pay for such an event.
Trump has occasionally floated the idea of holding a parade in Washington to showcase the country’s military might. He was reportedly awed last year when he attended a Bastille Day parade with French President Emmanuel Macron, which contained military displays.