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DOJ

Ex-FBI Intel Chief Believes DOJ has “No Case” Against Donald Trump

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A former assistant director of the FBI recently claimed that he thinks the affidavit used to obtain a search warrant of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago shows that the government has “no case”.

The affidavit in question was released last week by a magistrate judge in response to court filings submitted by certain media outlets and third parties. The legal document, however, was heavily redacted and revealed very little about what the FBI agents were searching for on Aug. 8 and why.

Kevin R. Brock, the former assistant director of intelligence for the FBI and principal deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), wrote in an opinion piece Sunday:

“We now know why the DOJ wanted the affidavit—which is supposed to articulate the probable cause needed for a legitimate search—to be kept under seal,”

Brock then goes on to list his reasons for doubting the FBI:

“First, the affidavit confirmed that the FBI’s investigation was triggered in January 2022 at the request of the National Archives, which wanted certain documents, especially classified documents, that it considered to be presidential records to be turned over to it by Trump.” 

“Second, from what I have seen, I don’t believe the affidavit articulates how a federal law was or is being broken. For those who hold out hope that the affidavit’s redacted sections fill that gap, there is almost no chance that they do,” 

According to Brock, the document’s argument for probable cause only seems to include “half of what is needed to show a possible violation of the federal statutes that are cited in the warrant”. Brock added that in his experience, it’s unlikely that the government will release the redacted portions of the affidavit.

The contents of the affidavit that were not redacted, do not show sufficient cause to believe that Trump wasn’t authorized to have the documents at his Florida residence.

“A criminal violation of those statutes only exists if it can be established that the person being investigated was not authorized to possess, store, transfer or copy those documents… This is an easy element to establish against anyone in America. Except for one person.”

Former aides to the President, and even Trump himself, claim that there was a standing order to declassify any materials that left the White House for Mar-a-Lago.

Meanwhile, Trump wrote in October on his now-banned Twitter account that he had declassified some FBI-related materials. He also issued an order on Jan. 19, 2021, to declassify some FBI Crossfire Hurricane documents.

“As president, he had broad, legally intimidating authority, established by law and court determinations, to declassify any and all documents and to determine what is and is not a presidential record,” 

“Trump and his legal team have asserted that this authority was exercised while he was still president. Therefore, a violation of these fairly low-level and seldom-prosecuted document-oriented statutes cannot be proven.”

The Same FBI Chief Who Botched Whitmer Kidnapping Now Runs DC Office Tied to Trump Raid

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The very same FBI field office in Washington D.C. that conducted the now notorious raid on former President Donald  Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home is being run by the same man who ran the Detroit field office during the botched attempt to entrap militiamen in kidnapping Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Steven D’Antuono was promoted by FBI Director Christopher Wray in October of 2020 to head the Bureau’s Washington Field Office. Deadline Detroit reported:

Steven M. D’Antuono, who was named chief of the Detroit FBI office a year ago, has been promoted to head the Washington Field Office, a coveted post in the bureau.

FBI Director Christopher Wray made the announcement Tuesday, just several days after D’Antuono’s agents and state police busted up a plot to abduct Gov. Gretechen Whitmer. His official new title is assistant director in charge. 

The job of heading the Washinton Field Office is among the most coveted posts in all of law enforcement, being the second-largest FBI field office behind New York City’s.

Details continue to emerge regarding the FBI’s integral role in the alleged kidnapping plot as public support for the agency plummets to new lows. The public sentiment among conservatives has dropped dramatically due to politically motivated investigations, prosecutions, and whistleblowers reporting law enforcement decisions being subject to political bias.

RELATED: Whistleblowers Claim FBI, DOJ are Downplaying Negative Hunter Biden Information

According to reporter Julie Kelly, the Whitmer kidnapping plot was an “FBI-inspired, organized, and executed a scheme to ‘kidnap’ and ‘assassinate’ Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer ahead of the 2020 presidential election.”

Two of the fourteen men named in the plot, the only two who were not working for or with the FBI, were acquitted in April on the grounds that they had been entrapped by the FBI, and the jury could not reach a verdict for Fox and Croft, Kelly told “War Room” TV show host Steve Bannon last Tuesday.

As the DOJ prepares to retry Fox and Croft, Kelly believes that the department’s “timing could not be worse,” as the credibility of both the DOJ and FBI is “imploding” in the wake of the raid on Donald Trump and reports from Chuck Grassley’s whistleblowers.

Recent examples of politically motivated law enforcement action against both Trump allies and Biden opponents include:

  • The home of former Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark was raided by federal agents, who ordered him to stand outside in his underwear as they searched his house. CNN aired the bodycam footage of the raid, coincidentally taking place only one day before a public hearing by the Jan. 6 committee examining Clark’s role in supporting Trump’s efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election.
  • Peter Navarro, the former Trump White House trade official, was publicly arrested by the FBI in June on a misdemeanor charge of contempt of Congress. Navarro alleges he was shackled in leg irons and strip-searched. The DOJ denies the claims. The judge in the case rebuked the DOJ for publicly arresting Navarro rather than just summoning him to court.
  • Trump election attorney John Eastman and Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) both had their phones seized by the FBI. Eastman’s phone was taken for the government’s Jan. 6 criminal probe, while Perry’s was in relation to alternate electors for Jan. 6.
  • The FBI searched the homes and seized electronics of investigative journalist James O’Keefe and two of his associates at conservative media organization Project Veritas;
  • Former Trump attorney and two-term New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s home and office were raided as part of a Justice Department criminal probe into his business dealings and communications with Ukrainians.

Washington Post Goaded Into Deleting Objective Criticism of Garland’s DOJ

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The notoriously left-leaning Washington Post tweeted out an article on Wednesday criticizing Attorney General Merrick Garland’s politicization of the Justice Department. The publication later decided to delete the article after significant backlash from the left. 

The headline read ‘Garland vowed to depoliticize Justice.  Then the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago.’ 

The Washington Post has since deleted the tweet promoting the story as the headline sparked outrage on Twitter, which prompted the Jeff Bezos-owned publication to re-post it using a different headline.

“No, he’s in the middle of unraveling a crime spree committed by the former president of the United States. There…fixed it for you,” one Twitter user wrote.

“This is so embarrassing I worry for the future of journalism,” another Twitter commenter said of the original headline.

The Washington Post promptly reworded the headline.

The article was posted in response to the Monday night raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.  President Trump’s son Eric Trump believes that the FBI violated due process rights by conducting the raid without giving Trump’s lawyers a copy of the search warrant, only allowing them to view the document from ten feet away.

The Washington Post’s now-deleted article came as notable individuals from both sides of the political aisle chimed in on the dangers of a weaponized Justice System and the precedent that this might set. 

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has come to the defense of former President Donald Trump after the FBI raided his Florida Mar-a-Lago home.

“The raid of MAL [Mar-a-Lago] is another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents, while people like Hunter Biden get treated with kid gloves… Now the Regime is getting another 87k IRS agents to wield against its adversaries? Banana Republic.”

Rand Paul chimed in as well, saying:

“The @FBI raid on President Trump was approved by Director Wray, who also claimed that the illegal FISA warrants used to spy on Trump were constitutional. Today’s raid is outrageous and unjust, but predictable.”

Republican candidate for Arizona Governor, Kari Lake wonders whether or not this establishes a precedent, that if “Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama should be nervous if Trump ever makes it back into the White House.”

Several left-of-center types displayed concern over the raid as well. Attorney Alan Dershowitz noted that the raid seemed to be “misconduct.”

“The raid is supposed to be a last resort. But this administration has used the weaponization of the justice system against its political enemies…This is improper, and this is misconduct.”

Andrew Yang also offered an unpopular perspective among those on the left.

 

Whistleblowers Claim FBI, DOJ are Downplaying Negative Hunter Biden Information

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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has claimed that “highly credible” whistleblowers are relaying information to him in regards to the FBI and Department of Justice actively trying to downplay the outpouring of negative press towards Hunter Biden.

The ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, through letters reviewed by CBS, wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray claiming that several sources within the FBI have given him evidence of attempts by the Bureau and Department of Justice to downplay, and even outright dismiss, bad press related to the first son. 

According to Grassley:

“The information provided to my office involves concerns about the FBI’s receipt and use of derogatory information relating to Hunter Biden, and the FBI’s false portrayal of acquired evidence as disinformation. The volume and consistency of these allegations substantiate their credibility and necessitate this letter,”

“First, it’s been alleged that the FBI developed information in 2020 about Hunter Biden’s criminal financial and related activity… It is further alleged that in August 2020, FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian Auten opened an assessment which was used by an FBI Headquarters (“FBI HQ”) team to improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease.”

The Iowan senator’s letter also claims that “an avenue of derogatory Hunter Biden reporting was ordered closed” by a senior FBI agent at the bureau’s Washington Field office just one month prior to the 2020 election.

“The allegations provided to my office appear to indicate that there was a scheme in place among certain FBI officials to undermine derogatory information connected to Hunter Biden by falsely suggesting it was disinformation,”

In the CBS report, it was noted that “more than 150 financial transactions involving either Hunter or James Biden’s global business affairs were flagged as concerning by U.S. banks for further review.”

In another letter, this one dated May 31st, Grassley’s accuses one Timothy Thibault, the senior FBI officer at the Washington field office, of potentially violating federal laws, regulations, and Bureau guidelines.

“Whistleblowers have reported to me, that although the FBI and Justice Department maintain policies dictating specific standards requiring substantial factual predication to initiate an investigation, Thibault and other Justice Department and FBI employees failed to comply with these requirements,”

 

“In light of these allegations, I remain very concerned that political bias by a select group of Justice Department and FBI officials has infected the Justice Department’s and FBI’s usual process and procedure to open and pursue high-profile and politically charged investigations,” 

Grassley alleges that Garland and Wray have “systemic and existential problems within” their respective agencies”, and has requested records from the FBI and DOJ with a deadline of August 8th. 

This all comes on the heels of reports that Hunter Biden could be facing potential criminal charges for not registering as a foreign agent while doing business deals abroad. Biden’s now infamous laptop has exposed multiple foreign business schemes the then-Vice President’s son tried to shepherd. Last week The New York Post revealed dozens of sit-downs between Hunter and Joe Biden that were frequently scheduled just days after Hunter visited with foreign officials.

It would seem that not even the FBI and the DOJ can make this information go away, try as they might. 

Steve Bannon to Testify Before the J6 Committee This Week

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The Jan. 6th committee is set to resume hearings this Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday’s hearing will specifically focus on “extremist groups” and their activities leading up to the event at the capitol.

Committee member Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California, told CNN:

“We are going to be connecting the dots during these hearings between these groups and those who were trying – in government circles – to overturn the election,”

The goal is to “connect the dots” between these civilian “extremist groups” and those in Trump’s circle (Bannon) who questioned the integrity of the election, something a large percent of the country is also questioning.

The committee hopes to demonstrate a clear link between Bannon and others from the Trump administration and such groups, particularly the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys. 

Former Proud Boys spokesperson Jason Van Tatenhove is expected to testify, as he claims to have knowledge of the inner workings of the organization.

Most notable will be the testimony of former Whitehouse Strategist Steven K. Bannon, who notified the committee that he was willing to testify after President Trump waived executive privilege.

Bannon had previously refused to comply with committee subpoenas and was last year charged with two counts of contempt of Congress.

Bannon’s attorney Robert Costello said in a letter to the committee: 

“President Trump has decided that it would be in the best interests of the American people to waive executive privilege for Stephen K. Bannon, to allow Mr. Bannon to comply with the subpoena issued by your Committee,”

Bannon’s testimony is yet to be scheduled. The Justice Department lawyers who are litigating Bannon’s contempt of Congress charges seem to be skeptical of Bannon’s Motives. 

DOJ lawyers said in a court filing:

“His continued failure to comply with the subpoena’s document demand while claiming he now will testify suggests his actions are little more than an attempt to change the optics of his contempt,”

Bannon had previously argued that he did not have to comply with subpoenas after Trump invoked executive privilege, but federal prosecutors say that because Bannon was a private citizen at the time of the capitol riot, such privilege did not apply.