According to Fox News Catherine Herridge reporting, Inspector General Michael Horowitz is investigating the unauthorized distribution of classified memos by former FBI Director James Comey.   The Wall Street Journal is also reporting that two of the four memos Director Comey gave to his friend Daniel Richman contained classified information.

According to the WSJ report: “At least two of the memos that former FBI Director James Comey gave to a friend outside of the government contained information that officials now consider classified, according to people familiar with the matter, prompting a review by the Justice Department’s internal watchdog.”

It is further reported that James Comey redacted elements of one memo himself in an effort to protect secrets before he handed the documents over to his friend Daniel Richman.  Comey made the self-determination that no another memo contained classified information.  However, after he left the FBI officials upgraded the second memo content to “confidential” after a review.

DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz is now conducting an investigation into the releases of the memo and the overall circumstances surrounding the releases. Previously Comey stated he considered the memos personal records and not government documents. He told congress he wrote them and authorized their release to the media “as a private citizen.”

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With Inspector General Michael Horowitz submitting a criminal referral for fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe; and with knowledge of federal prosecutor John Huber paralleling Horowitz for months within the investigation; it might be worthwhile going through the names of some officials likely to surface in the next few days/weeks.

The most interesting people in the ongoing investigation are those principals who clearly were in/around the center of 2015/2016 activity; were caught in 2017, yet remain inside the FBI and DOJ National Security Division (DOJ-NSD) ie. Main Justice.

♦James Baker – The former FBI chief legal counsel and close adviser to FBI Director James Comey.  In addition to coordinating the “small group” activity to exonerate Hillary Clinton, Baker was also a recipient for some of the Comey Memos of recent release. This puts Baker in a position to understand the “insurance policy” described by FBI Agent Peter Strzok and FBI Counsel Lisa Page. Additionally, Baker would be able to identify the level of knowledge and participation of Director Comey, and is therefore perhaps the biggest risk to Comey specifically.  December 21st, 2017, Baker was removed from any responsibility but remains inside the FBI in some capacity; he is therefore considered a cooperating co-conspirator for the FBI Inspection Division (INSD), IG Horowitz and likely prosecutor Huber.

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Washington, D.C. – Today House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Ca.), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) issued the following statement:

“We have long argued former Director Comey’s self-styled memos should be in the public domain, subject to any classification redactions. These memos are significant for both what is in them and what is not.

Former Director Comey’s memos show the President made clear he wanted allegations of collusion, coordination, and conspiracy between his campaign and Russia fully investigated. The memos also made clear the ‘cloud’ President Trump wanted lifted was not the Russian interference in the 2016 election cloud, rather it was the salacious, unsubstantiated allegations related to personal conduct leveled in the dossier.

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A few hours ago the DOJ released five memos to congress from the files of fired FBI Director James Comey.  The total number of memos and emails is uncertain, presumably seven, however the DOJ released five (full pdf below).

Several of the emails and memos are sent to the Former FBI chief legal counsel James Baker (now a cooperating witness with IG Horowitz and Federal Prosecutor Huber); and/or Comey’s chief-of-staff James Rybicki (he resigned after the Page/Strzok texts surfaced).   The publicly released versions contain redactions due to their classified nature:

[scribd id=376855452 key=key-OzRxMFpl7rNk07sKZZlv mode=scroll]

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Fired FBI Director James Comey appears on CNN for an interview with Jake Tapper and states [@03:20] he doesn’t know how many memos he may have written? …What?

We can see the growing legal risk to James Comey by the severity of his professional obfuscation.  Despite flooding the media with interviews the overall Comey book tour is a significant narrative fail; he will find few defenders during an indictment.

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Institutional media quickly noted the public opinion shift on Comey as the American people’s BS-meter pegged Comey as condescending and self-interested.  Politically democrats are not attempting to utilize Comey because he’s a known toxic commodity. Comey is left drowning in his own sanctimony, and his lack of self-awareness is pathetic.

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Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani previously served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.  Mr. Giuliani told the Washington Post:

“I’m doing it because I hope we can negotiate an end to this for the good of the country and because I have high regard for the president and for Bob Mueller,” Giuliani said in an interview.

Guiliani joining team to negotiate exit of Special Counsel Robert Mueller is confirmation of earlier analysis on Mueller “referee” intent. The investigative and indictment balance was always between Hillary Clinton allies and President Donald Trump.

Robert Mueller was recruited by Clinton and Washington DC allies and those within the small group; and was/is generally facilitating the investigation of Trump as leverage.

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Well, well, well…. details from last week’s trip by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to the White House are now surfacing in multiple news reports.  Mark the date today, the media is exiting the ‘muh Russia’ narrative.

Deep-weeds-walkers, those who follow nuance carefully, will note that yesterday Jennifer Jacobs was given a question by POTUS Trump during the joint press conference with PM Shinzo Abe.  Jacobs asked President Trump if he would still consider firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller.  Not coincidentally, today Jennifer Jacobs reports that DAG Rosenstein informed the President he is not a target of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

The media walk-back begins…. left-wing partisans going bananas. Multiple simultaneous splodey heads happening:

(Bloomberg)  Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told President Donald Trump last week that he isn’t a target of any part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Rosenstein, who brought up the Mueller probe himself, offered the assurance during a meeting with Trump at the White House last Thursday, a development that helped tamp down the president’s desire to remove Rosenstein or Mueller, the people said.

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Multiple media outlets are now confirming the DOJ Office of Inspector General, Michael Horowitz has sent the U.S. Attorney a criminal referral over the unlawful issues which led to the firing of FBI Asst. Director Andrew McCabe.

(Via CNN) The Justice Department’s inspector general has sent a criminal referral regarding former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to the US attorney’s office in Washington, according to a source familiar with the matter. A McCabe spokesperson, the Justice Department and US attorney’s office all declined to comment. (link)

In other words, Horowitz looked across the table and said: “start here John“.  The Washington Post provides more background on the referral, noting the actual submission happened “some time ago” (hint – HUBER).

(Via WaPo) The Justice Department inspector general referred its finding that former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe repeatedly misled investigators who were examining a media disclosure to the top federal prosecutor in D.C. to determine whether McCabe should be charged with a crime, according to people familiar with the matter.

The referral to the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office occurred some time ago, after the inspector general concluded McCabe had lied to investigators or his own boss, then-FBI Director James B. Comey, on four occasions, three of them under oath. (link)

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Earlier today President Trump traveled to the Joint Interagency Taskforce-South in Key West, Florida.  Those who have traveled to Key West will note they actually landed AF1 at the Key West airport; quite a remarkable accomplishment (video below).

The U.S. border interdiction activity, the U.S. Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security in the South Florida Keys is an important part of the larger national security network.  President Trump visited the Naval Air Station at Key West, a strategic part of the Southern security network. Additionally, President Trump thanked those who work within the Joint Agency Task-Force.

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The Florida Keys are still recovering from last year’s Hurricane and the visit by President Trump is a huge morale boost for the recovery workers still on the ground and the tight knit communities rebuilding. These are great people, born with saltwater in their veins. Thousands lined the streets to cheer for POTUS Trump.

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a joint press conference at the end of their two-day bilateral summit in Mar-a-Lago. Anticipated start time 6:15pm EST

UPDATE: Video Added

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