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FBI Agreed To Destroy Laptops of Clinton Aides With Immunity Deal, Sources Say (foxnews.com)
An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes a report from Fox News: Immunity deals for two top Hillary Clinton aides included a side arrangement obliging the FBI to destroy their laptops after reviewing the devices, House Judiciary Committee sources told Fox News on Monday. Sources said the arrangement with former Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills and ex-campaign staffer Heather Samuelson also limited the search to no later than Jan. 31, 2015. This meant investigators could not review documents for the period after the email server became public -- in turn preventing the bureau from discovering if there was any evidence of obstruction of justice, sources said. The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee fired off a letter Monday to Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking why the DOJ and FBI agreed to the restrictive terms, including that the FBI would destroy the laptops after finishing the search. The immunity deals for Mills and Samuelson, made as part of the FBI's probe into Clinton's use of a private email server when she served as secretary of state, apparently included a series of "side agreements" that were negotiated by Samuelson and Mills' attorney Beth Wilkinson. The side deals were agreed to on June 10, less than a month before FBI Director James Comey announced that the agency would recommend no charges be brought against Clinton or her staff. Judiciary Committee aids told FoxNews.com that the destruction of the laptops is particularly troubling as it means that the computers could not be used as evidence in future legal proceedings, should new information or circumstances arise.
stop all of the conspiracy garbage since there's no more evidence.
This. This issue has been put to bed for good.
Geez, you'd think destroying a laptop was like drowning a puppy from the way people react here.
I had considered Johnson as a third party even though I'm not really a libertarian but he is so clueless on international matters and the practical side of the POTUS I just can't do it.
He donates to his own foundation to get tax breaks
It is a 501c charity... of course you get a tax break. Clinton gets a tax break from her donations to her foundation too.
and then uses that foundation to run for president.
Cite. No idea what this refers to.
He has bankrupted more businesses than most people even get to work for.
He has created something like 500 businesses. Having only six fail out of that many is actually quite a good record.
He has offended every sane person in the country.
No he has offended a bunch of SJW. People call him racist for wanting to keep ILLEGAL immigrants out. People call him Islamophobic for wanting to keep Islamic TERRORISTS out. SJWs leave the capitalized words out just to try to make him look worse than he is.
He has changed positions on almost all of the key issues JUST THIS YEAR.
Can't disagree. IMO he is really a RINO as his "mistakes" almost invariantly speak to a Democratic position, then he corrects himself to a Republican position.
I am not aware of any circumstances under which evidence can be legally destroyed. Sure you can refuse to use it but I can not understand how it can legally be destroyed without being recorded and kept for future use, just in case, you know justice needs to be served. It all stinks of high heaven of the corrupt struggling to ensure another corrupt guaranteed not to prosecute high crimes criminal is elected. It seems everything after Carter was just a corrupt conspiracy to guarantee they could commit what ever crimes they wanted to and the next career criminal elected would not prosecute them. So Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Clinton all part of an extended long running con with guarantees of freedom from prosecution. Hidden for decades but now being exposed, that exposure a sure sign of it coming apart. If Trump were elected, you just know he would push for prosecutions against all those who attacked his family, it would all be quite amusing.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
At first the immunity deal for Combetta was for destruction, to get him to talk to the FBI after using BleachBit on the server. This is unusual, because he could already have been prosecuted for this since an order was issued which doesn't allow for this. Clinton and her people asked him to do this, which means they could also be prosecuted.
There's another interpretation of events. The law says you have to turn over all the official emails (personal are exempt) and then destroy the devices (so no one is digging hard drives out of landfills). And this is exactly what they did (or tried to do since they job of separating wasn't done properly).
Whether they also destroyed evidence depends on what they were told by the FBI at the time and how much the lawyers were involved (I suspect you're lawyer telling you X is ok gives you a lot of cover).
Furthermore, I'm genuinely confused why the other 4 immunity deals were offered. Were the 4 others granted immunity because they had a hand in the private server, or were they offered because the DOJ was looking out for them?
Because the FBI is only interested in Clinton.
The best way to get everyone else to talk without fear of self-incrimination is to just give them immunity.
I'm also confused why they fucking include a provision to destroy laptops (that apparently weren't subpoenaed or seized via warrant like in every other case) as intense scrutiny of this case is going on and Congress is attempting to force further investigation even though the DOJ and FBI are trying to stonewall it.
There's just too much smoke here for anyone to claim that there isn't a fire.
I'd like to hear what the FBI or legal experts have to say first, the sources of the story (Fox news and Republican legislators) aren't exactly impartial actors.
I stole this Sig
The drives were under Congressional subpoena, not from the FBI. The FBI had no jurisdiction to tell them deleting anything was acceptable.
Mills lied to the FBI during the investigation after she was given immunity and not charged for lying during an investigation (Remember Scooter Libby?)
Not only do we have examples of this happening in the RECENT past, like Scooter Libby, and this not being handled the same way. We have evidence of this being much worse in just about every single possible way. Remember Libby got a year for misquoting something while being questioned, not for what they originally went after him for, which turned out to not be a crime in his specific case. So he got a year of jail for a misstatement on an investigation of something that wasn't a crime.
In this case we have multiple people lying under oath, multiple times. even after given immunity, destruction of evidence, and ACTUAL mishandling of classified information. Not a single charge.
The FBI = shit
The DOJ = shit
Internalize theoretical qualification scenario, deflect on manufactured attack, ad hominem without making a point to just disagree with vitrol. Classic troll.
Of course it was.
In reality, no-one is truly qualified or "experienced" enough to be president. Once you are, your term limit is up and everyone thinks your an asshole unless you get assassinated and/or successfully get a moon shot funded. Johnson/Weld are the ticket with actual experience governing and running a state. Both were re-elected and both were able to gain cooperation on both sides of the isle in a non-partisan manner. IMHO, that makes them far more qualified to be promoted to the national stage than the other leading morons famous for "pivoting" and/or deflecting blame when the shit hits the fan and things don't work out.
It's not like these guys are dumbasses straight out of college, we are talking about experienced multi-term politicians here with a good track record. I can forgive the fact he probably got a C in world geography and had one bong hit too many that morning in high school. At least he doesn't have a huge track record of negative foreign policy failures like Clinton. Or zero governing experience and lots of daddy's money.
I honestly doubt Trump gives a shit about slashdot, so you'd have to explain better how it's relevant in any context. Furthermore, some AC posts are pretty good, and sometimes there are good reasons for regular users to post as AC. I recall one time a self confessed pedophile posted as AC to explain that even though he was attracted to children, he had never attempted to have sex with one, which if you ask me is a sane thing to do because it doesn't matter whether or not one abuses children, if they confess to even thinking about that then their life is pretty much over, and for no good reason.
Hell, I've posted as AC myself to make some decidedly un-PC jokes that I just don't want associated with my regular identity here. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with that. Sure, some twats get offended, but that's their problem, especially the times when those posts get modded +5 funny.
This.
The Federal Government is three co-equal branches. If congress is unable to enforce a subpoena without the cooperation of the executive branch, we don't have three branches any more, we have one. Effectively, the executive branch would then be able to do whatever it wants, as long as the DOJ promises not to prosecute.
We've seen hints of this particular Constitutional crisis several times throughout our history. We've never been anywhere near so close though, mostly because no previous President has managed to collect quite so many corrupt ideologues under one roof before. Traditionally, the Attorney General resigns in disgust much sooner, or refuses to play along, which is the same thing.
Our congressmen should strongly consider growing some balls and locking these people up. Either for contempt until they produce the evidence they were ordered to preserve, or until they can hold trials on the floor of the house.
The trials will be short. "This is a signed agreement whereby you conspired with the FBI to destroy evidence. Is that your signature? The FBI says you handed over the evidence as planned, and they destroyed it. Do you dispute their testimony? Guilty."
See that "Preview" button?