• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

WaPo: Dubious Russian document influenced the FBI’s handling of the Clinton probe

G

giga

Member
In the midst of the 2016 presidential primary season, the FBI received a purported Russian intelligence document describing a tacit understanding between the campaign of Hillary Clinton 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 mentioned 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 — a conversation that if made public would cast doubt on the inquiry’s integrity.

Current and former officials have said that document played a significant role in the July decision by then-FBI Director James B. Comey to announce on his own, without Justice Department involvement, that the investigation was over. That public announcement — in which he criticized Clinton and made extensive comments about the evidence — set in motion a chain of other FBI moves that Democrats now say helped Trump win the presidential election.

But according to the FBI’s own assessment, the document was bad intelligence — and according to people familiar with its contents, possibly even a fake sent to confuse the bureau. The Americans mentioned in the Russian document insist they do not know each other, do not speak to each other and never had any conversations remotely like the ones described in the document. Investigators have long doubted its veracity, and by August the FBI had concluded it was unreliable.
Click to expand...

Lots more at the link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...75c07c-3a95-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html
 
D

Dash_Riprock

Member
12106197_1659077284362142_741230623_n.jpg
 
E

Effect

Member
RPGCrazied said:
So the FBI is compromised? Or am I seeing this wrong.
Click to expand...

Bad intel which they eventually realized was bad. No compromising here. It's likely part of why they're going so hard with this Russia investigation now. They got played back then and I wouldn't be surprised they include it as part of Russia's overall actions.
 
L

Lord Frieza

Member
Current and former officials have said that document played a significant role in the July decision by then-FBI Director James B. Comey to announce on his own, without Justice Department involvement, that the investigation was over. That public announcement — in which he criticized Clinton and made extensive comments about the evidence — set in motion a chain of other FBI moves that Democrats now say helped Trump win the presidential election.
Click to expand...

I don't care what anyone says about him now, Comey fucked up with doing what he did here. It amazes me that a man who seems so intelligent did something so fucking stupid. And now we know a large part of what prompted him was documents that were in doubt at the time and just a little later basically completely debunked. Jesus fucking Christ.
 
E

EatinOlives

Member
People should keep in mind how badly Comey botched the FBI investigation on Clinton. The situation has changed and tables have turned, but too many people are treating Comey as our lord and savior. He never was, and in some ways played a role in getting us into the mess we're in now.
 
T

The Adder

Banned
RPGCrazied said:
So the FBI is compromised? Or am I seeing this wrong.
Click to expand...

As far as I can tell:

Document comes into existence that could cast aspersion on e-mail investigations, which was drawing to a close, conclusion.

Comey tries to counter with that ridiculous announcement of its conclusion wherein he announced Clinton hadn't done anything criminal but also attacked her.

Document is definitely fake and probably Russian in origin.
 
G

giga

Member
Wolfgunblood Garopa said:
Why would Comey react so strongly to this piece of intelligence, was he sold a bill of goods by someone in the FBI he trusted? Comey isn't a fool.
Click to expand...
Article: Comey had little choice, these people have said, because he feared that if Lynch announced no charges against Clinton, and then the secret document leaked, the legitimacy of the entire case would be questioned.

Still extremely irresponsible.
 
T

tedrotheredro

Member
Even if the document was real, it doesn't justify the press conference that he did. Merely releasing a simple statement "We do not recommend charges, The End" was the only acceptable public communication.
 
A

Anoregon

The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
EatinOlives said:
People should keep in mind how badly Comey botched the FBI investigation on Clinton. The situation has changed and tables have turned, but too many people are treating Comey as our lord and savior. He never was, and in some ways played a role in getting us into the mess we're in now.
Click to expand...

He absolutely did, but I think what people on the left have come to accept/believe is that his big ol fuckup last year that helped tank Hillary was not done out of malice or a partisan agenda. He made a bad choice, but he was kind of in a complicated fucked up position. At the time it certainly seemed that he was just being a Hillary hating Republican.
 
RPGCrazied

RPGCrazied

Member
The Adder said:
As far as I can tell:

Document comes into existence that could cast aspersion on e-mail investigations, which was drawing to a close, conclusion.

Comey tries to counter with that ridiculous announcement of its conclusion wherein he announced Clinton hadn't done anything criminal but also attacked her.

Document is definitely fake and probably Russian in origin.
Click to expand...

So the FBI buying into fake news? That isn't terrifying or anything. /s
 
K

kirblar

Member
Email not obtained

After the bureau first received the document, it attempted to use the source to obtain the referenced email but could not do so, these people said. The source that provided the document, they said, had previously supplied other information that the FBI was also unable to corroborate.

While it was conducting the Clinton email investigation, the FBI did not interview anyone mentioned in the Russian document about its claims. At the time, FBI agents were probing numerous hacking cases involving Democrats and other groups, but they never found an email like the one described in the document, these people said.

Then on July 5, Comey decided to announce on his own — without telling Lynch ahead of time — that he was closing the Clinton email case without recommending charges against anyone. Aides to Comey said he decided to act alone after Lynch met privately with Bill Clinton for nearly a half-hour on an airport tarmac in Phoenix about a week earlier — and have since said privately the Russian document was also a factor in that decision.

The appearance of possible conflict arising from the Phoenix meeting led FBI leadership to want to show it had reached the decision independently, without political interference from the Justice Department.

About a month after Comey’s announcement, FBI officials asked to meet privately with the attorney general. At the meeting, they told Lynch about a foreign source suggesting she had told Renteria that Clinton did not have to worry about the email probe, because she would keep the FBI in check, according to people familiar with the matter.

“Just so you know, I don’t know this person and have never communicated with her,’’ Lynch told the FBI officials, according to a person familiar with the discussion. The FBI officials assured her the conversation was not a formal interview and said the document “didn’t have investigative value,’’ the person said.
Click to expand...
They got fed bullshit by a source feeding them Russian bullshit, didn't investigate to make sure it was bullshit, but still acted as though it wasn't bullshit.

Jesus f'ing christ.
 
L

Lord Frieza

Member
The Adder said:
As far as I can tell:

Document comes into existence that could cast aspersion on e-mail investigations, which was drawing to a close, conclusion.

Comey tries to counter with that ridiculous announcement of its conclusion wherein he announced Clinton hadn't done anything criminal but also attacked her.

Document is definitely fake and probably Russian in origin.
Click to expand...

The part you're leaving out is that the Document already had a lot of doubt surrounding it before it was totally debunked. This is either total incompetence, the worst judgement imaginable, or a judgement made with a clear agenda in mind.

EatinOlives said:
People should keep in mind how badly Comey botched the FBI investigation on Clinton. The situation has changed and tables have turned, but too many people are treating Comey as our lord and savior. He never was, and in some ways played a role in getting us into the mess we're in now.
Click to expand...

Bingo.
 
W

Wolfgunblood Garopa

Member
giga said:
Article: Comey had little choice, these people have said, because he feared that if Lynch announced no charges against Clinton, and then the secret document leaked, the legitimacy of the entire case would be questioned.

Still extremely irresponsible.
Click to expand...

I understand the motivation that it caused, but not Comey's belief in the intelligence. I don't get how he would take drastic action based on this piece of intelligence alone, it would have to be backed up by somebody.
 
G

GoldenEye 007

Member
Was the email investigation out of the NY office? The one that is claimed to be Trumpland? Would help to explain the lack of basic follow up to whatever document this is.

What implications does this have for the overall Trump investigation?

Edit: This piece of info certainly is an issue. But I guess we also have to remember Bill Clinton's epically dumbfuck decision to meet with Lynch could not have helped either.
 
T

The Adder

Banned
RPGCrazied said:
So the FBI buying into fake news? That isn't terrifying or anything. /s
Click to expand...

No, the FBI didn't buy into it, but if its existence leaked people would have accused the AG of putting her finger on the scale. So Comey announced instead, circumventing the way things are generally done and trying to nip any accusations in the bud.
 
L

Lord Frieza

Member
Anoregon said:
He absolutely did, but I think what people on the left have come to accept/believe is that his big ol fuckup last year that helped tank Hillary was not done out of malice or a partisan agenda. He made a bad choice, but he was kind of in a complicated fucked up position. At the time it certainly seemed that he was just being a Hillary hating Republican.
Click to expand...

No, it wasn't a fucked up complicated situation. Comey isn't an idiot. He knew the time we're living in, and I'm damn sure he knew the right-wing political smear-job that was going full steam against Hillary. He, as the director of the FBI, made possibly the dumbest mistake possible in an election fucking twice.

RPGCrazied said:
So the FBI buying into fake news? That isn't terrifying or anything. /s
Click to expand...

You're oversimplifying. It wasn't like this was something that came on Fox. It was an official document. It just wasn't properly researched before action was taken.
 
N

Nazgul_Hunter

Member
So in other words.... there was a Clinton Dossier that actually was full of fake news?

Man. There really is anything for any complaint Trump and co have ever made.
 
P

Prof. Bathtub

Member
Comey is quite possibly the biggest rube ever. Tries to jump the gun in the Clinton investigation over a dubious Russian report; doesn't bother to check the number of emails on Wiener's computer; thinks Chaffetz is just the person to trust with an important letter. Six feet and eight inches of horrible choices.
 
T

The Jackdog

Member
part of me truly believes trump has nothing to do with russia, is just a massive idiot, and russia merely wanted to create this chaos

like that it was just about influencing, not collusion.
 
B

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
So the moral of the story is the same one that every fucking 4-year old learns through bedtime stories...don't jump to conclusions.

Especially in the FBI.
 
S

Scirrocco

Member
Trump tweets about Hillary - Russia being the REAL story in 5 4 3 2...

Edit: spoke too soon. Doesn't implicate hill and Russia. But you still know damn well we'll be seeing this on Hannity soon, now that he's not talking about Seth rich anymore.
 
L

Lord Frieza

Member
DopeToast said:
I'm legit confused about what's going on.
Click to expand...

It's not hard to understand: A document came into the FBI that in some way tied into the investigation going on about Hillary's e-mail, the document was considered dubious from the start, Comey decided he was going to jump ahead of this before it leaked and was part of the reason he called that press conference last July, and not long after the document was basically debunked.
 
R

RCSI

Member
The Adder said:
No, the FBI didn't buy into it, but if its existence leaked people would have accused the AG of putting her finger on the scale. So Comey announced instead, circumventing the way things are generally done and trying to nip any accusations in the bud.
Click to expand...

Of which, another attorney should have been the one to make the announcement. There were other options
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Financial Times: How Brad Smith used Microsoft’s $1bn law and lobbying machine to win Activision battle
News Drama Business 2 3
127
9K
Topher replied
FBI: Lisa Page Dimes Out Top FBI Officials During Classified House Testimony; Bureau Bosses Covered Up Evidence China Hacked Hillary
2
65
4K
kruis replied
  • Locked
WaPo: Document that drove Comey's handling of the Email Case was a Russian fake
8
2K
ShadowSwordmaster replied
Wired: Technical breakdown of Russian Indictments
2
1K
Cauliflower of Love replied
Secret Agent Nunes still at it - threatens to hold AG, FBI chief in contempt
25
6K
Blader replied
Top Bottom