[Washington Examiner] Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley is pressing the Department of State Inspector General to open a new investigation of the use of a private email account and server by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of her inner circle of advisers, particularly that of Huma Abedin.
Grassley is concerned that the private email allowed Clinton, Abedin and other high-ranking State Department officials to conduct official business without archiving them for government record-keeping purposes as required by federal laws and regulations.
Abedin received a rare designation of Special Government Employee that allowed her to draw her official salary as well as compensation from a private consulting firm with close links to President Clinton and the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
In a March 19 letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, Grassley said "a number of conflict of interest concerns arise when a government employee is simultaneously being paid by a private company, especially when that company, Teneo, 'brings together the disciplines of government and public affairs.'"
All the sad news at Politico. This isn't the seediest story you'll read today, but Hilary is really acting her age here...
A Department of Homeland Security watchdog report issued Tuesday blasted the agency’s No. 2 official for repeatedly intervening on behalf of well-connected participants in an investor-visa program, including Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-Va.) and Tony Rodham, a brother of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The inspector general report faults Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas for creating “an appearance of favoritism and special access” as a result of highly unusual steps he took while serving as director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which oversaw the investment-based program known as EB-5.
“Mayorkas communicated with stakeholders on substantive issues, outside of the normal adjudicatory process and intervened with the career USCIS staff in ways that benefited the stakeholders,” Inspector General John Roth wrote. “In … three instances, but for Mr. Mayorkas’s intervention, the matter would have been decided differently.”
In a 32-page written statement made public along with the 65-page report, Mayorkas adamantly denied wrongdoing. “I respectfully submit that a complete and total repudiation of the allegations against me is the only correct and just conclusion,” he told investigators in January.
However, a press statement Mayorkas released Tuesday was slightly more conciliatory.
"Please don't indict me!"
“While I disagree with the Inspector General’s report, I will certainly learn from it and from this process,” he said. “As the leader of U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services, I had the responsibility to ensure that cases, including the three that are the focus of the report, were decided as the law required and that agency errors were corrected.”
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Tuesday that he has “full confidence” in Mayorkas, but that Mayorkas and others need to be cautious about intervening in specific cases.
Johnson has all the confidence in a Democratic operative that ValJar has, neither more nor less...
“Each of us in leadership must be mindful that, when we become involved in individual matters that happen to reach our desk, we risk the appearance of preferential treatment and the suspicion of our subordinates. As public servants, we must maintain the trust and confidence of all those around us, and be above reproach,” Johnson said in a statement. “I have discussed this with Deputy Secretary Mayorkas and I am confident he understands this.”
Much more eyewash at Politico.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/25/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
An aggressive prosecutor sent the former governor of Virginia to jail (and his wife) merely for the appearance of quid pro quo. Let us see how aggressive the prosecutor will be against Governor McGoof.
#2
former governor of Virginia to jail But he was one of those (R) guys, wudn't he.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/25/2015 7:27 Comments ||
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#3
The former governor was guilty as hell. He and his wife deserved those convictions.
Let's see if indeed the prosecutors manage to pin one on the current governor. However, McAuliffe exudes enough slime to make an eel proud so I'm not counting on it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/25/2015 8:44 Comments ||
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#4
"Oleaginous"
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/25/2015 9:43 Comments ||
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#5
Meanwhile, Hillary says: "Inspector Generals? Who needs them. We didn't have one while I was SOS. Having or not having an IG--What difference does it make?"
Posted by: frozen al ||
03/25/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
The notoriously cheap Clintons, used to the government and rich friends paying their tabs, made a point of leaking that President Clinton paid for the server. That’s a first. But it’s important because, presumably, if the Government paid for it, they could assert control.
If the gov't suspects [has probable cause to suspect] that you are securing classified government documents or other gov't property, in a footlocker in the basement of your private residence, the gov't has every right to get a search warrant and seize that material for examination and potential legal action.
That Kissinger line is absolutely bogus, at least when applied to the little people. When the server scandal broke at nearly the same time as their Clinton Foundation money raising questions, the potential linkage between their Foundation and the odious and despicable Kissinger, and his Foundation immediately came into question.
#2
The Hildebeest is finished. As Krauthammer has said, 'this one has legs.' The only question now is the timing of her stepping down from the 2016 race, the medical fig leaf and obligatory seclusion, followed closely by the presidential pardon.
#4
It is no secret that VarJar demands that Elizabeth Warren be installed as the next President of the U.S.
Hillary met this week with Obama in the White House. Without doubt ValJar was sitting in the shadows to insure that her mouthpiece (Obama) conveyed her threats/options appropriately.
#5
Yes, Warren or some other hapless democratic candidate will likely emerge and end up with the ball. Unfortunately, the odious Clintons, spoilers to the end, will divert attention, funding, and make every effort to run out the clock. The presidential process provides them a cover, prestige, and executive power. Giving it up too soon places them nearer the status of the common citizen.
#6
Mr. B has it. Hillary has to keep the Foundation money coming in which means she has to be in a position to run for high office. That keeps all the right people kissing her ring (and handing over checks).
If Hillary doesn't run, look for Chelsea to make a move towards political office -- say Lt. Governor of New York. Perfect for a dummy like her, a no-work position that gives her plenty of time to do favors, and be rewarded for doing favors.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/25/2015 8:47 Comments ||
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#7
Caroline Kennedy vs Chelsea Clinton
making Psaki and HARF! look smart
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/25/2015 9:45 Comments ||
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#8
the Justice Department makes the case that any documents that are not under their control are not covered by FOIA and ergo the State Department has no obligation to search them. Since Hillary — and not the State Department — controlled them, they have no obligation to do anything with them.
That is the most torturous legal logic since SCOTUS' ruling that the Obamacare penalty was actually a tax. Someone else argued that it is like the kid who murdered his entire family and then fell on the mercy of the court because he was an orphan.
#10
Oh,and by the way, Hillary’s decision to hand over hard copies, instead of electronic files was another ploy to make searching the documents more difficult. There’s no way to do a word search on manual documents.
Not disagreeing, but I think there is tech out there which can scan hard copies and digitize the text, then allowing word searches.
Don't know about Chelsea's intellect or personality, but a few years back public tv was showing a performance of The Nutcracker and in between acts Chelsea interviewed a few of the performers - it was bad. So very very bad. Like watching frozen fish sticks thaw on the countertop entertaining.
#11
OCR is pretty efficient in current tech. Chelsea got paid to do puff pieces for Comcast/NBC. They were local (as in 1-station towns) -level quality. Her IQ is undetermined, but Webb Hubbell was a fairly sharp guy, sooo..
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/25/2015 21:21 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
