Showing posts with label Trey Gowdy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trey Gowdy. Show all posts

Monday, November 7, 2016

Did Hillary Clinton have Classified Information on her Server?

Earlier today, against my better judgement, I got into a social media argument.

I know, like I said it was against my better judgement and I should have just walked away, but I couldn't. Unfortunately it ended with comments like: "I guess i'm that stupid" and "count me stupid too."

Why does it seem that people enjoy making a flippant comment, but when you point out how they are wrong they immediately take things personally? I'm sorry that you are not plugged in to the issues and that you rely on a corrupt media for your talking points.

For the record, yes, Hillary Clinton did have classified information, Top Secret & Above, in her unsecured emails. Information that was so sensitive that even members of Congress were kept from seeing / hearing about it. In fact, Congress was given redacted documents and had to issue a subpoena. Don't believe me, listen to those in charge.

FBI Director James Comey



FBI Assistant Director Jason Herring




Inspector General of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Charles McCullough


NSA / NGIA / ODNI Hearing



The problem is that we have become so entrenched in our political party system that we have abdicated our responsibilities as citizens. We have put party over ethics, morality and convictions. It's the reason we are in the place we are today and we have no one to blame but ourselves..... oh, and those pesky little talking points as well !! 

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

How the United States Congress Marginalizes Itself for Party Politics

Before my budding career as a mystery / thriller author, I spent twenty-two years in law enforcement, fifteen of those as an investigator with the NYPD, both as a detective and sergeant. 

Since my books tend to have an overt political tone to them, I tend to follow the current events of the day pretty closely, so you can imagine that I was glued to my TV set this morning when FBI Director James Comey appeared before the Congressional Oversight Committee to answer questions pertaining to the Hillary Clinton investigation, specifically whether information she provided to them during her voluntary interview showed that she lied to Congress in her testimony, which was under oath.

I will admit that I didn’t have much hope going into this. My prior post about Congress abdicating its Constitutional role shows just how bad things have gotten in Washington, but this morning’s testimony highlights the true extent.

Now, let me remind you that this hearing was about Hillary Clinton’s testimony before Congress and the subsequent testimony she gave during the investigation by the FBI. The reason for this was that when she testified before Congress it was under oath.

So after opening questions by the Committee Chairman, what does the ranking member, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mi.) ask?

A question about the FBI interview with Hillary? Nope.

Anything to do with the subject of the current hearing? Nope.

No, Rep. Conyers thinks this is a good time to address police shootings and potential Russian connections for Donald Trump.

See, this is exactly why people have lost all faith in the political system.  Congress, a co-equal branch of government, has lost all credibility as it devolves deeper into the quagmire of political party cheerleading.

Rep. Conyers, the senior member of Congress, who has served since 1965, has abandoned his duties as the representative of the people and has put his party’s interests above the electorate. Let us be completely clear on this - There is certainly evidence that Hillary Clinton perjured herself before congress.

Consider the following:


I have heard a lot of people, who have never handled this type of material, make excuse after excuse about things they know nothing about: Classification markings, retroactive classification, whether there were markings, and I could go on forever. Understand one thing, Hillary Clinton, the woman President Obama called the most qualified person ever, was the Secretary of State. She knew, or should have known, whether the information she dealt with was classified. Ignorance of the law is not a defense and, repeat after me, you DO NOT need intent to commit the crime you only have to do it.

It was not CIA Director, General David Petraeus’, intent to jeopardize national security, but he was still charged with providing classified information. He pled guilty to a misdemeanor and accepted a plea deal of probation along with a $100,000.00 fine. Understand that Petraeus’ mistress, Paula Broadwell, was a journalist, a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army and an Intelligence Officer.  Broadwell had the security clearance to handle classified information, but was not given authority to remove the information “from authorized storage facilities” or store the classified information “in unauthorized locations,” according to the affidavit. Unfortunately for her, her case wasn’t as cut and dry as the General. She lost her security clearence, was demoted back to major, and is still in a state of limbo.

I’m sorry, but does anyone think that what happened with Hillary Clinton and her staff was in any way different? There were people with access to her emails that had NO security clearance.

Why was Hillary’s attorney and chief of staff Cheryl Mills, given immunity in order to obtain her laptop, when the same accommodation was not afforded Paula Broadwell?  Hell the FBI gave four other people immunity and no one was prosecuted. Obviously Petraeus and Broadwell didn’t know the right people.

In my twenty-two year law enforcement career I have never seen an investigation, by what we are told is the Nation’s preeminent investigatory agency, which was so flawed on so many levels. To be fair, I don’t blame the rank and file agents, but I do lay the blame at the foot of the Director and Attorney General Lynch, who I am sure issued the marching orders.  However, that is a topic for another day.

The key issue today is the travesty that passes itself off as the people’s representatives. I don’t care what party you belong to; just understand that your elected officials are not doing the job you elected them to do. 

This morning, Rep. John Conyers highlighted what is fundamentally wrong with our government. 

Understand that I draw no distinction to party, if you can cite an example where a Republican representative did the same thing I will agree with you 100%. Each of us must look beyond party politics; we must expect our representatives to seek the truth, not to protect a political ally. The letter after a name must never come before the truth. The Rule of Law must prevail, because when it does not then the Rule of Man does and when that happens this Republic is doomed. 

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Tuesday, September 27, 2016

When gov't agencies no longer respect the Constitution...

Many of you are aware that, in addition to being a retired NYPD sergeant, I am also a political junkie and this plays a big role in some of the books that I have written. 

This morning, I watched something that I found to be profoundly disturbing to me, as it should be to the overwhelming majority of Americans.

Congressional Oversight Committee Chairman, Congressman Jason Chaffetz, was questioning FBI Assistant Director Jason Herring, regarding the production and distribution of materials, relative to Congress’ investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails. During the course of his appearance, Agent Herring stated: “Director Comey tried to be as transparent as he could with this committee.”



Stop for a moment and let that sink in: “tried to be as transparent as he could..”

Folks, that should send a chill through you. If it doesn’t, then the problem is greater than you could imagine.

How have we arrived to the point where an arm of the government, specifically a federally law enforcement agency, decides to become its own arbiter of what it will and will not provide to congress?

I cannot begin to warn you of the seriousness of this and the dire implications for our country going forward.

As many of you know, in the past I have railed against the ‘party’ system as I believe that this political arrangement is more of a detriment to us, driving a wedge of dissension between Americans. I believe that we have a solemn responsibility to elect principled leaders, as it is the only way our system works. But with each passing day I have come to realize that the majority of Americans do not have a clue as to exactly how this system of government works.

First, please understand that we do not live in a democracy. I keep hearing people say that and I cringe. There is a significant reason that the United States is not a democracy, best summed up by founding father and future president, James Madison:  

Hence it is that democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and in general have been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths …” – Federalist Papers, #10.

The truth is that democracy is actually the antithesis of our government. In a democracy the majority can decide to simply vote away things they don’t agree with, including your rights. Ever hear the argument about common sense? Well, in a democracy, the majority can take away any right by virtue of common sense….. you know, for the common good. Sadly, many do not consider the implications of this. You might be part of the in-crowd today, enjoying your moment in the sun, but remember that tomorrow the political winds can shift and you may very well find yourself looking down the barrel of the gun you helped create. We only have to look back 70 or so years at the rise and fall of Nazi Germany.

So the founding fathers took the extraordinary path of creating the world’s first constitutional republic. It established a constitution as the guiding principles, recognizing certain unalienable rights to the citizens of this nation, and created a framework of co-equal government that would insure these rights were not infringed upon.

The new government was founded upon three co-equal branches: Executive, a bicameral Legislative (House of Representatives and Senate) and Judicial. Without getting into the minutia, because you should already know this, each has its own separate powers and was thought to be the best system for insuring that one branch didn’t accumulate too much power and attempt to exceed its granted authority.

Got that? This system was designed to prevent one branch from gaining too much power.

Checks and balances is what it is called and a good example of this is that the legislative (Congress) has the power to create laws. The executive (President) can veto any legislation, an act which can be overridden by Congress, with sufficient votes. The President nominates judges to the nation's highest judicial authority (Supreme Court), but nominees must be approved by Congress. The judicial then has the power to invalidate, as ‘unconstitutional,’ any law passed. The Congress also has the power of the purse, the ability to tax and spend public money for the national government. So if the President does attempt an end-run to establish something the Congress does not approve of, he won’t have the funding to do so.

This works well, at least in theory.

When George Washington was first elected president in 1789 there were no political parties. This would soon change with the Federalist Party in 1791 and, in the following year, the formation of the Anti-Federalist Party or Democratic-Republicans. By his 2nd term, party lines and loyalty in the Nation’s capital were drawn to the point of bitterness and destruction. Personal and professional attacks became common and they represented a serious threat to the new republic. Washington was greatly concerned that the parties had sought to, and would again; seek more power for themselves, using it to exact political revenge on their opponents. Something he called the ‘alternate domination.’ When reading Washington’s Farewell Address, it does not take much to see just how remarkably prophetic his words were:

The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.”

Does any of this sound familiar?

Just as Washington predicted, two hundred plus years ago, we are seeing the elevation of man, and party, over the principled and faithful execution of law.

Party in-fighting, within the hallowed halls of Congress, has diminished that body to nothing more than a cheerleader for the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. A fact eloquently outlined in the accompanying statement by Rep. Trey Gowdy. And the judicial is not very far behind, becoming more of an activist judiciary instead of one that uses the Constitution as their guide.

But in the case of Congress, rather than perform the role they were elected to do, by you, they are actually doing the will of the party. This has to resonate with the electorate. If not, then we are truly doomed.

Whatever your political affiliation is, the current investigation into, Democratic Party nominee, Hillary Clinton’s email servers has to be taken seriously. I spent most of my career conducting criminal investigations. Unlike politicians and pundits who try and couch their words, I can tell you unequivocally that crimes were committed. Whether a decision was made to not prosecute for those crimes is not the issue. Congress has, and should act upon, the authority to investigate this matter, but as we see in the video above, forces are at play to impede it. An agent of the executive branch, in this case the FBI, should not be allowed to decide what they will or will not share with the legislative branch tasked with oversight. That is chilling.

It is something that is even occurring within lower federal courts where agencies are refusing to turn over documents to the court.

How did we get to this place? What happened to the rule of law and not man? Will the foundation that is being laid now slowly trickle down to the rest of society? What will happen when society chooses to fail to comply with a court order? Will the judge wring his hands and bemoan his impotence to do anything? I don’t think so.

I truly believe that something has to change in this country.

The government of the United States represents the citizens or as Abraham Lincoln so eloquently put it: "Government of the people, by the people, for the people…” We are their bosses and yet somehow we have abdicated all control to the powers that be.

To be fair, they are not completely at fault. We, the people, have become co-equal cheerleaders. Lamenting when someone from the other side does something wrong, yet turning a blind eye when it is our person. We simply cannot have different rules for us and them.  

If this continues down the path it is going, we will not survive.

Congress has to stop ‘protecting’ people, because they belong to the same party, and start doing what their bosses, the people, elected them to do. For our part, we have to be honest with ourselves and understand that just because someone might have the same party affiliation as us, doesn’t mean they are the best person for the job.

Unlike the vast majority of folks reading this, I handled classified information at one time. Folks, this isn’t an insignificant issue and it certainly isn’t a political one. Understand that people have lost careers and have even gone to prison for far less than what Hillary Clinton did, yet we are being told: ‘nothing here, move along.’ If it were you or I, our lives would be ruined and our freedoms taken away. Don’t you have a problem with that? Why is it, that by virtue of her place, in some type of American political lineage, she is getting a free pass on something you or I would spend a long time in prison for? Doesn’t this bother you at a fundamental level?

Elections are about the accumulation of power, not for you or me, but for the party. It is the reason that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, the two major party candidates for president in 2012, spent close to $1.12 billion, a number which, by all estimates, will probably be exceeded in this election cycle. All that money for a job that pays a paltry annual salary of $500,000.00, give or take. Let that sink in for a moment. At best, the next president, if they are in for two-terms (eight years), will have earned about 4-5 million dollars. Hillary and Bill Clinton brought in five times that total amount during one year of speaking engagements.

You still think this isn’t about power?

It is time that you and I stand up and demand that our representatives in Washington, D.C. start to do the job they were elected to do, instead of abdicating it in favor of those with power. If we don’t, then we have no one else to blame when the government comes crashing down on top of us.

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