“After deep study, careful thought and considerable soul-searching, I have decided I must oppose the agreement and will vote yes on a motion of disapproval,” Schumer wrote in a 1,600-word post on the website Medium.

“I will vote to disapprove the agreement, not because I believe war is a viable or desirable option, nor to challenge the path of diplomacy,” he added later. “It is because I believe Iran will not change, and under this agreement it will be able to achieve its dual goals of eliminating sanctions while ultimately retaining its nuclear and non-nuclear power.” (more…)

Apparently the media are running out of thesaurus reference words to obfuscate the illegality of using non-secure private data servers to conduct official State Department business.  Not to worry, they’ll soon come up with new Clinton deflector words. 
WASHINGTON POST – The FBI has begun looking into the security of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s private e-mail setup, contacting in the past week a Denver-based technology firm that helped manage the unusual system, according to two government officials.
Also last week, the FBI contacted Clinton’s lawyer, David Ken­dall, with questions about the security of a thumb drive in his possession that contains copies of work e-mails Clinton sent during her time as secretary of state.
The FBI’s interest in Clinton’s e-mail system comes after the intelligence community’s inspector general referred the issue to the Justice Department in July. Intelligence officials expressed concern that some sensitive information was not in the government’s possession and could be “compromised.” The referral did not accuse Clinton of any wrongdoing, and the two officials said Tuesday that the FBI is not targeting her. (more…)

Pass the popcorn, stuff is finally getting serious…

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered the U.S. State Department to request that Hillary Clinton and her top aides confirm, under penalty of perjury, that they have produced all government records in their possession, return any other government records immediately, and describe their use of Hillary Clinton’s email server to conduct government business.

[…]  The text of Judge Sullivan’s minute order, which was issued at 5:46 pm:

♦ As agreed by the parties at the July 31, 2015 status hearing, the Government shall produce a copy of the letters sent by the State Department to Mrs. Hillary Clinton, Ms. Huma Abedin and Ms. Cheryl Mills regarding the collection of government records in their possession.  These communications shall be posted on the docket forthwith.

(more…)

According to released information Huma Abedin was paid as State Dept. Employee despite taking leave and vacations.  Additionally receiving three sources of continued income while working simultaneously for State Dept., Clinton Foundation and private lobbying company….

WASHINGTON DC –  State Department investigators concluded this year that Huma Abedin, one of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s closest aides, was overpaid by nearly $10,000 because of violations of rules governing vacation and sick leave during her tenure as an official in the department.

The finding — which Abedin has formally contested — emerged publicly Friday after Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) sent letters to Secretary of State John F. Kerry and others seeking more information about an investigation into possible “criminal” conduct by Abedin concerning her pay. (more…)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dozens of emails that traversed Hillary Clinton’s private, unsecure home server contain national security information now deemed too sensitive to make public, according to the latest batch of records released Friday.

In 2,206 pages of emails, the government censored passages to protect national security at least 64 times in 37 messages, including instances when the same information was blacked-out multiple times. Clinton has said she never sent classified information from her private email server, which The Associated Press was first to identify as operating in her home in New York.

The Friday release brings the volume of emails publicly released by the State Department to roughly 12 percent of the 55,000 pages Clinton had turned over to department lawyers earlier this year. That falls short of the 15 percent goal set by a court ruling in May, a lag the State Department attributed to interest by the inspector general of the U.S. intelligence community in the possible compromise of classified information. (more…)

Baltimore State Attorney Marilyn Mosby previously stated she was going to pursue justice for Freddie Gray “by any and all means necessary“. Today, in a motion filed by the defense, the extent of Mosby’s activist intention is again reinforced.

In addition to hiding “Brady evidence“, there is a meeting between Mosby and the medical examiner (prior to the autopsy release – and undisclosed by Mosby) which indicates previous elements of her pressuring the ME to change the cause of death from “accidental” to “homicide”.

BALTIMORE – Prosecutors have information indicating that Freddie Gray “attempted to injure himself” during a previous arrest, but have intentionally withheld it from their criminal case against the six Baltimore police officers charged in Gray’s apprehension and death in April, the officers’ attorneys said in a court filing Thursday.

“Based upon information and belief, the State’s Attorney’s Office was informed of this fact, yet failed to disclose to the Defendants any statements, reports, or other communications relating to this information,” they wrote.

[…] In their filing Thursday, the defense attorneys said prosecutors have withheld “multiple witness statements from individuals who stated that Mr. Gray was banging and shaking the van at various points” after his arrest April 12, as well as “police reports, court records, and witness statements indicating that on prior occasions, Mr. Gray had fled from police and attempted to discard drugs.” (more…)

President Obama’s ISIS combat strategy involved training, equipping and mobilizing what the administration called “Syrian Moderates”.   The overall ‘strategy’ has been an abject failure as the U.S. has been unable to assemble more than a few handfuls of forces who are willing to engage in such a tenuous plan.  However, today the plan, as poor in concept as designed, suffered a remarkable set-back. 

BAGHDAD — The commander of a group of Syrian fighters trained by the United States has been kidnapped by Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, his group said in a statement Thursday.

The commander, Nadeem Hassan, and seven of his fighters were taken by the Nusra Front, a rival of the Islamic State in Syria, as they were returning from a meeting in Turkey.

A contingent of 54 fighters from Mr. Hassan’s group, known as Division 30, are the only ones who have graduated from a Pentagon program to train Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State in Syria. One the fighters taken with Mr. Hassan was his deputy, Farhan Al-Jasem, who commands the fighters who graduated from the American training program. (more…)

Team Clinton has a lot to fear. However, this movie makes them “tremble” more than if they had to release medical records Clinton is refusing to provide….

Director Michael Bay is notorious for mounting massive-scaled blockbusters crammed wall to wall with explosions, twisted metal, swaggering heroes and supermodels. The director’s next movie, however, is shaping up to be a lot more serious because the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, is anything but the stuff of pure entertainment. Due to hit theaters Jan. 15 (more)

Philippe Reines, Cheryl Mills, Jake Sullivan and Huma Abedin all used non State Dept. email accounts during their tenure within the Clinton led State Department. It appears all of them joined with Hillary Clinton to avoid FOIA investigative inquiry into their activity.  Reines turns over 20 boxes of hand-selected emails for review.

…To clarify, the judge asked Hackett if Reines was “asked to produce in his personal email system, federal records… and he produced 20 boxes of emails in his personal emails. Is that” your understanding?

Hackett said it was.

Philippe Reines is a nasty piece of work. SEE HERE for history.

(Via Politico) Long-time Hillary Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines handed the State Department 20 boxes of work-related emails taken in part from a personal email account, State officials said Wednesday, calling into question the extent to which top aides to the former secretary of state also engaged in controversial email practices.

State Department top document official John Hackett, who heads Freedom of Information Act requests for the agency, told a federal judge in a court hearing Wednesday that Reines was among several officials asked to turn over any any work-related documents in his possession. (more…)

…The wind began to switch – the house, to pitch – and suddenly the legal hinges started to unhitch.

What happened then was rich. The lie began to pitch; the lawyers sniffed a snitch.  The courtroom took a slitch; landing on the Wicked Witch while hiding in her ditch.

Which was not a healthy sit-u-ation for the Wicked Witch….

Via Judicial Watch […] During the a status hearing today, Sullivan warned that the failure to follow his order was serious and the IRS and Justice Department’s excuses for not following his July 1 order were “indefensible, ridiculous, and absurd.”

He asked the IRS’ Justice Department lawyer Geoffrey Klimas, “Why didn’t the IRS comply” with his court order and “why shouldn’t the Court hold the Commissioner of the IRS in contempt.” Judge Sullivan referenced his contempt findings against Justice Department prosecutors in the prosecution of late Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) and reminded the Justice Department attorney he had the ability to detain him for contempt. Warning he would tolerate no further disregard of his orders, Judge Sullivan said, “I will haul into court the IRS Commissioner to hold him personally into contempt.”

Judge Sullivan then immediately issued a “Minute Order“: (more…)