[Wash Times] Hillary Clinton’s case isn’t interesting enough to the public to justify releasing the FBI’s files on her, the bureau said this week in rejecting an open-records request by a lawyer seeking to have the former secretary of state punished for perjury.
Ty Clevenger, the lawyer, has been trying to get Mrs. Clinton and her personal lawyers disbarred for their handling of her official emails during her time as secretary of state. He’s met with resistance among lawyers, and now his request for information from the FBI’s files has been shot down.
"You have not sufficiently demonstrated that the public’s interest in disclosure outweighs personal privacy interests of the subject," FBI records management section chief David M. Hardy told Mr. Clevenger in a letter Monday.
"It is incumbent upon the requester to provide documentation regarding the public’s interest in the operations and activities of the government before records can be processed pursuant to the FOIA," Mr. Hardy wrote.
Mrs. Clinton, is the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, former chief diplomat, former U.S. senator, and former first lady of both the U.S. and Arkansas. Her use of a secret email account to conduct government business while leading the State Department was front-page news for much of 2015 and 2016, and was so striking that the then-FBI director broke with procedure and made both a public statement and appearances before Congress to talk about the bureau’s probe.
In the end, the FBI didn’t recommend charges against Mrs. Clinton, concluding that while she risked national security, she was too technologically inept to know the dangers she was running, so no case could be made against her.
#7
Ah, the fine legalese distinction of the term public's interest, almost poetic in its sophistry! Remember the following gems: “My counsel advises me that there is no controlling legal authority or case that says that there was any violation of law whatsoever in the manner in which I asked people to contribute to our reelection campaign.” ―Al Gore
#10
There are some efforts to start petitions to "pressure" the FBI to release this information. Attorney Ty Clevenger and citizen journalist Bill Still are encouraging people to sign these petitions.
Wife said she was watching the local news six months ago when we just lost half a million acres in 12 hours and our ash was falling on Hutchinson some 150 miles off, which had a fire near to town. Lady said something like, "Here we are in Hutchinson, the scene of the state's largest recorded fire." When a dude in the background yelled, "No its not, that is going on right now south of Dodge!"
Google translate as the original text is in Russian.
[Rusvesna] The threat of war between the powers with the population for a total of far beyond 2 billion people has passed.
However, the contradictions between them are growing, and not only at the border, but also in Africa.
Exactly 103 years ago, similar contradictions between the European empires led to a world war.
The long-awaited world
On Monday, China and India withdrew troops from the Plateau Plateau, which remained tense over the past two months. The original cause of the conflict was Beijing's desire to extend the road passing through this area in the Himalayas at the junction of the borders of three states: India, China and Bhutan.
It can not be said that the aggravation of the situation in the Himalayas, both months of the conflict was the number one news on the planet, but taking into account the possession of nuclear weapons by both sides, the interest in it is quite understandable and explainable.
Fortunately, serious collisions were avoided. The case was limited to verbal skirmishes between Indian and Chinese soldiers, which were separated by some 120 meters, and a brawl with the use of improvised tools in the form of stones and sticks, but not weapons.
To resolve the conflict, the parties had to make certain concessions.
A brief statement by the Indian Foreign Ministry states that Delhi reached "understanding" with China and agreed to withdraw troops. In Chinese statements and comments, although it speaks of claims to disputed territories, but does not mention the construction of a road that provoked an aggravation of the conflict.
The Chinese, we recall, were going to build it on the territory that the Kingdom of Bhutan considers its allied India. China also claims this plateau, where the borders of all three states converge. For India, its strategic importance is enormous: Here, along the narrow corridor of Siliguri, its northeastern states communicate with the "mainland" India.
Who won?
Both sides claim to have won. Still, most observers believe that if it were necessary to choose a winner, then China should recognize it, albeit with a slight advantage. India first took a very tough and uncompromising position and first sent troops to the Reports, the area of which is only 85 km².
However, in Delhi, they quickly realized that they overestimated their forces and that it was too early to compete with the Celestial Empire, whose GDP exceeds India's fivefold; moreover, not only economically, but also militarily.
Despite the advantage, China also had good reasons for the speedy end of the conflict. From the tactical can be mentioned, for example, that on September 3 in Syamen the BRICS summit opens, with members of both sides of the conflict in the Himalayas. Naturally, in Beijing they do not want to be called "warmongers". On the contrary, the hosts of the summit want to be considered a peace-loving power, but ready at any time to repulse any encroachment on their sovereignty.
Of course, there are also strategic reasons. Many political scientists believe that it is unprofitable for China to turn Delhi into a mortal enemy and doom itself to decades of the cold war with India, which, incidentally, is developing more dynamically than China. One should not forget that India has better relations with the world's leading powers, mainly with America.
Of course, the economy also played a role. In Beijing, clearly do not want to incur large losses in trade with India in the event of a break in relations. Now India's deficit in trade with China is almost 52 billion dollars. Last year, India exported goods worth $9 billion to China, and imported more than $60 billion in Chinese goods. Of course, the Chinese producers do not want to refuse such money.
The resolution of the conflict does not contain any serious recipe for preventing its recurrence, but Beijing and Delhi seem to have managed to find a way to avoid serious confrontation. More at the link. If you want to read the translation, I urge you to use Google Chrome.
#1
Indian trade... Also China is busy building a series of naval bases towards the Middle East oil and African resources: The String of Pearls. Causing India to actively work against this plan would be... ill advised.
[ME Forum] Asked in 2015 to address the German fear of Islamization, Chancellor Merkel suggested that instead of fearing Islam, Christian Germans should learn more about their own religious roots and go to church more often. Your response?
Merkel's infuriating reply is typical of the elites in western (not eastern) Europe who remain defiantly unaware of the problems that Muslim immigration creates. The reasons are several-fold: guilty feelings, living in a bubble, looking for votes, political correctness, and fear of being called "Islamophobic."
Why guilty feelings?
Because, as French novelist and essayist Pascal Bruckner explained in his 2006 book, La tyrannie de la pénitence, many Europeans feel deep personal remorse about the trio of imperialism, fascism, and racism, even when they themselves are not implicated in those evils.
For some Europeans, white skin itself signals guilt. Accordingly, they feel compelled to show unlimited tolerance and goodwill to non-Westerners. The fact that non-Western peoples also sin does not register ‐ which implies a certain arrogance, even racism: only white sins count.
This sense of guilt is the more striking considering Europe's great advances. I remember visiting Finland in 1987 and thinking as I walked its streets: "This prosperity, freedom, rule of law, and democracy is what humanity has always worked toward and now it's been achieved."
How strange that a Europe which attained such success today drowns in guilt, has too few children, and chooses not to protect itself from a rival civilization. As an historian, I say: Such weakness has no precedent.
[Free Beacon] President Donald Trump will have to override his advisers if he wants to make good on a campaign promise to abandon the Iran nuclear agreement, according to former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, who published a draft proposal for exiting the accord on Monday.
Bolton alluded to a rift within the administration over whether the United States should scrap the landmark deal, and said he was recently denied a meeting with Trump on the issue after staff changes at the White House.
"It's a question of who prevails here: the president or his advisers," Bolton told the Washington Free Beacon on Tuesday. "Based on what's been reported in the press, I think [Trump] does believe this deal is detrimental to American interests, so if he wants to get out of it I'm providing a way to do it."
Bolton, once considered for secretary of state and national security adviser during the presidential transition, said in an op-ed published Monday in National Review he was asked last month by Trump's now-ousted strategist, Steve Bannon, to draft a policy proposal on how the United States could withdraw from the nuclear accord.
[Wash Times] Republicans led by Florida Rep. Ron DeSantis are mulling an amendment that would dramatically cut funding for special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia-President Donald Trump ties.
It’s about time someone in the GOP stepped up to the plate and beat back these ridiculous Russia investigations. DeSantis is suggesting that if Mueller doesn’t find the dirt on the Donald within six months, then that funding would stop.
His proposed amendment also stops Mueller from looking into Trump-tied matters that took place before June 2015, the time when the businessman-turned-president launched his White House campaign.
These are only common-sense measures. Why should taxpayers keep funding an investigation that goes nowhere? Or, one that digs deep, deep, deep into Trump’s past, well before the point he announced his run for the White House?
[Townhall] Matt brought you a recent Morning Consult survey that showed the Arizona Republican trailing his primary challenger, former state Sen. Kelli Ward, by 14 points--but in a new poll released Monday, Ward has widened her lead even more.
According to the JMC Analytics survey, if the Republican primary were held over the weekend Ward would be ahead of Flake by 26 points, 47 percent to 21 percent. Twenty-nine percent of voters were undecided.
Flake’s favorability numbers in the poll aren’t looking great, either. Twenty-two percent of registered voters in the state of Arizona had a favorable opinion of the Republican senator, while 67 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of him.
Given President Trump's popularity in the state, the poll also asked respondents about how much they factored in the president's opinion of the candidates.
If the president, who has a 76-21% approval rating among Republican likely primary voters, made an endorsement, 56 percent of voters said they would be more likely to support that person.
Trump and Flake have been highly critical of one another, with the president already seeming to throw his support behind Ward in the race.
While not an official endorsement, Trump tweeted that it was "Great to see that Dr. Kelli Ward is running against Flake Jeff Flake, who is WEAK on borders, crime and a non-factor in Senate. He’s toxic!"
#2
Dr. Ward's campaign will soon be the recipient of a small portion of my Social Security check. What my other doctors don't find out about, won't hurt them.
#5
Lindsey Graham, please take notice before 2020.
Posted by: Tom ||
08/30/2017 11:24 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Now if only the voters did this when McStain ran....
Conveniently forgotten is that 1) McCain runs a formidable political machine and wields great influence in Arizona, and 2) Mcain is a tireless and ruthless campaigner.
Flake is a McCain protégé; I doubt he'll go down like the article's wet-dream implies.
#10
McConnell has his pet senate PAC going hammer and tongs after Ward. Replay of Thad Cochran and Mississippi coming. The swamp protects those it can control.
h/t Instapundit
I believe it is. I believe the dominant media culture has gone crazy due to the trauma of not getting their way. I further believe that their constant hysteria makes more sane people not actually crazy, but very stressed out and agitated.
If you've ever spent five minutes in the company with a manic or very anxious person, you know that such psychological states are easily transmittable. I personally know that when I used to have panic, that panic infected the people around me. (And actually, then I would sense their own anxiety and I would become more panicked-- a vicious cycle of sympathetic animal-level emotional transmission.)
It's all part of our pack animal evolution -- it's evolutionarily advantageous to pick up the signals of alarm (even subtle ones) from a neighboring pack animal. When his ears prick up, it's good to prick up your own ears. If he stops breathing to hear more clearly, then it's good to hold your breath too.
But those things are good only when the pack animals around you are sane and reasonably reacting to stimuli that seem to indicate genuinely possible threats.
However, when half of the pack has Mad Cow Disease and shriek and wail over nothing at all, this transmission of anxiety and fear becomes toxic for the healthy members of the pack.
Half of America now consists of barely-functional lunatics, and it's best to avoid them for all sorts of reasons. I used to wonder the same thing about Israelis after the Oslo accords.
#5
I do recall that the asylums were shut down sometime around the 1970s. Let's not forget the acid-dropping, dope-smoking 1960s as well. May have had an effect.
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
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
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.
[Wash Times] Hillary Clinton’s case isn’t interesting enough to the public to justify releasing the FBI’s files on her, the bureau said this week in rejecting an open-records request by a lawyer seeking to have the former secretary of state punished for perjury.
[ME Forum] Asked in 2015 to address the German fear of Islamization, Chancellor Merkel suggested that instead of fearing Islam, Christian Germans should learn more about their own religious roots and go to church more often. Your response?
[Wash Times] Republicans led by Florida Rep. Ron DeSantis are mulling an amendment that would dramatically cut funding for special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia-President Donald Trump ties.
[Townhall] Matt brought you a recent Morning Consult survey that showed the Arizona Republican trailing his primary challenger, former state Sen. Kelli Ward, by 14 points--but in a new poll released Monday, Ward has widened her lead even more. 
