Witch Hunt

by Gregg Jarrett

  105. Sadie Gurman, Eric Tucker, and Jeff Horwitz, “Special Counsel’s Trump Investigation Includes Manafort Case,” Associated Press, June 2, 2017.

  106. Jonathan Turley, “Rod Rosenstein Must Recuse Himself,” The Hill, October 12, 2018.

  107. Matt Zapotosky and Devlin Barrett, “Rosenstein-McCabe Feud Dates Back to Angry Standoff in Front of Mueller,” Washington Post, October 10, 2018.

  108. Ibid.

  109. Eli Lake, “Rod Rosenstein Has Some Serious Explaining to Do,” Bloomberg, February 19, 2019.

  110. Matt Zapotsky and Devlin Barrett, “Rosenstein-McCabe Fued Dates Back to Angry Standoff in Front of Mueller.”

  111. Quinta Jurecic, “Document: Justice Department Releases Carter Page FISA Application,” Lawfare, July 21, 2018.

  112. Craig Bannister, “Rosenstein Testifies He Doesn’t Need to Read FISA Applications He Signs,” CNS News, June 29, 2018.

  113. Ibid.

  114. Turley, “It’s High Time Rod Rosenstein Recuse Himself.”

  115. Joseph diGenova, “James ‘Cardinal’ Comey—the Man Who Destroyed the FBI,” Fox News, April 12, 2019.

  116. James Comey, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership (New York: Flatiron Books, 2018).

  117. Jurecic, “Document: Justice Department Releases Carter Page FISA Application.”

  118. Washington Post Staff, “Full Transcript: FBI Director James Comey Testifies on Russian Interference in 2016 Election,” Washington Post, March 20, 2017.

  119. “Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly,” Book of Deuteronomy 32:35.

  120. Politico Staff, “Full Text: James Comey Testimony Transcript on Trump and Russia,” Politico, June 8, 2017. See also Comey, A Higher Loyalty, 270.

  121. Gregg Jarrett, The Russia Hoax: The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump (New York: Broadside Books, 2018), ch. 10.

  122. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Records Management Division, “FBI’s Prepublication Review Policy Guide,” 0792PG, June 4, 2015, 1; “FBI Employment Agreement,” FD-291, available at https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/fd-291.pdf/view; see also “Sensitive Compartmented Information NonDisclosure Agreement,” Federal Bureau of Investigation (Records Related to the Dismissal of FBI Director Comey), available at https://vault.fbi.gov/records-related-to-the-dismissal-of-fbi-director-comey/Records%20Related%20to%20the%20Dismissal%20of%20FBI%20Director%20Comey%20Part%2002%20of%2002/view.

  123. Alex Pappas, “Comey Denies Release of Memo Contents Was a ‘Leak,’ Addresses Dem-Funded Dossier in Fox News Interview,” Fox News, April 26, 2018.

  124. Comey, A Higher Loyalty, 269.

  125. Ibid., 270.

  126. Michael S. Schmidt, “Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation,” New York Times, May 16, 2017; David Lauter, “Trump Asked Comey to Shut Down Investigation of Flynn, New York Times Reports,” Los Angeles Times, May 16, 2017.

  127. Ibid.

  128. Brooke Singman, “Comey Memos Reportedly Had Classified Info; Trump Says ‘That Is So Illegal,’ ” Fox News, July 10, 2017; Jeremy Stahl, “My Theory About the Number of Memos Comey Gave His Friend Was Wrong,” Slate, April 20, 2018.

  129. James B. Comey, Confidential Presidential Memorandum, FBI, January 28, 2017, available at https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4442900-Ex-FBI-Director-James-Comey-s-memos.html; Peter Kasperowicz, “James Comey Promised Trump: ‘I Don’t Leak,’ ” Washington Examiner, April 19, 2018.

  130. Byron Tau and Aruna Viswanatha, “Justice Department Watchdog Probes Comey Memos over Classified Information,” Wall Street Journal, April 20, 2018.

  131. Brooke Singman, Twitter, April 20, 2018, https://twitter.com/brookefoxnews/status/987378859510259712.

  132. Comey, A Higher Loyalty, 270; Daniel Chaitin, “James Comey Denies Leaking Memos, Sees ‘No Credible Claim’ He Broke Law,” Washington Examiner, April 25, 2108.

  133. Lata Nott, “Leaks and the Media,” Freedom Forum Institute.

  134. United States Code, 18 U.S.C. § 641, “Public Money, Property or Records.” See also United States v. DiGilio, 538 F.2d 972, 978 (3d Cir. 1976); Pfeiffer v. C.I.A., 60 F.3d 861, 864 (D.C. Cir. 1995).

  135. FBI Employment Agreement, Including Provisions and Prohibited Disclosures, FD-291, https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/fd-291.pdf/view. This agreement reads, in part, “I will not reveal, by any means, any information or material from or related to FBI files or any other information acquired by virtue of my official employment to any unauthorized recipient without prior official written authorization by the FBI.”

  136. United States Code, 18 U.S.C. § 793, “Gathering, Transmitting or Losing Defense Information”; United States Code, 18 U.S.C. § 1924, “Unauthorized Removal and Retention of Classified Documents or Material.”

  137. Politico Staff, “Full Text: James Comey Testimony Transcript on Trump and Russia.”

  138. James B. Comey, “Statement for the Record,” Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, June 8, 2017, https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/os-jcomey-060817.pdf, 5.

  139. Author’s interview with President Donald J. Trump, Oval Office, White House, June 25, 2019.

  140. The Mueller Report, 333.

  141. United States Code, 18 U.S.C. § 953, “Private Correspondence with Foreign Governments” (the Logan Act).

  142. There have been two indictments under the Logan Act, one in 1803 and the other in 1852. Both cases were dropped without prosecution. For the legal efficacy of the act, see Jacob Frenkel, “Why Michael Flynn’s Plea May Not Lead to a Logan Act Violation,” Forbes, December 12, 2017; Dan McLaughlin, “Repeal the Logan Act,” National Review, May 5, 2018; Michael V. Seitzinger, “Conducting Foreign Relations Without Authority: The Logan Act,” Congressional Research Service, March 11, 2015. See also Waldron v. British Petroleum Co., 231 Fed. Supp. 72 (1964).

  143. Alex Pappas, “Comey Admits Decision to Send FBI Agents to Interview Flynn Was Not Standard,” Fox News, December 13, 2018.

  144. Ibid.

  145. Gregg Re, “Flynn Says FBI Pushed Him Not to Have Lawyer Present During Interview,” Fox News, December 12, 2018.

  146. Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, letter to Rod J. Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General, and Christopher A. Wray, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, May 11, 2018, https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2018-05-11%20CEG%20to%20DOJ%20FBI%20(Flynn%20Transcript).pdf.

  147. Alex Pappas, “Mueller Releases Flynn Files Showing FBI Doubts over ‘Lying,’ Tensions over Interview,” Fox News, December 14, 2018.

  148. Washington Post Staff, “Full Transcript: Acting FBI Director McCabe and Others Testify Before the Senate Intelligence Committee,” Washington Post, May 11, 2017.

  149. Comey, “Statement for the Record,” Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 5; Politico Staff, “Full Text: James Comey Testimony on Trump and Russia,” 66.

  150. James B. Comey, “Statement for the Record,” 5.

  151. Politico Staff, “Full Text: James Comey Testimony on Trump and Russia,” 20.

  152. Ibid.

  153. Dershowitz, “Introduction to the Mueller Report,” The Mueller Report, 10.

  154. John Solomon, “James Comey’s Next Reckoning Imminent—This Time For Leaking,” The Hill, July 31, 2019.

  155. Ibid., see also Brooke Singman and Jake Gibson, “DOJ Will Not Prosecute Comey For Leaking Memos After IG Referral: Sources,” Fox News, August 1, 2019.

  156. Seamus Bruner, Compromised: How Money and Politics Drive FBI Corruption (New York: Bombardier Books, 2018), 18.

  157. Ibid., 147.

  158. Tessa Berenson, “James Comey Says He ‘Never’ Leaked Information on Trump or Clinton,” Time, May 3, 2017.

  159. Tim Hains, “Comey Pushes Back Against Trump’s ‘Leaker’ Claim in Full ‘Special Report’ Interview: ‘He’s Just W
rong,’ ” RealClearPolitics, April 26, 2018.

  160. Peter Elkind, “James Comey’s Testimony on Huma Abedin Forwarding Emails Was Inaccurate,” ProPublica, May 8, 2017.

  161. Comey, “Statement for the Record,” Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

  162. “Department of Justice Issues Statement on Testimony of former FBI Director James Comey,” Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, June 8, 2017.

  163. Quinta Jurecic, “Document: Transcript of James Comey’s Dec. 7 Interview with House Committees,” Lawfare, December 8, 2018. See also “Statement by James B. Comey, Director of the FBI, before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,” July 7, 2016, available at http://www.thompsontimeline.com/congressional-testimony-of-fbi-director-james-comey/.

  164. Tom LoBianco, Pamela Brown, and Mary Kay Mallonee, “Comey Drafted Clinton Exoneration Before Finishing Investigation, GOP Senators Say,” CNN, September 1, 2017.

  165. Jeff Carlson, “Comey’s Testimony: Truth or Lies?,” The Epoch Times, December 11, 2018.

  166. Tim Hains, “Comey Pushes Back Against Trump’s ‘Leaker’ Claim in Full ‘Special Report’ Interview.”

  167. Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Senate, “Interview of: Glenn Simpson,” August 22, 2017, https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/3/9/3974a291-ddbe-4525-9ed1-22bab43c05ae/934A3562824CACA7BB4D915E97709D2F.simpson-transcript-redacted.pdf.

  168. Steve Peoples and Zeke Miller, “Neoconservative Website Washington Free Beacon Hired Fusion GPS,” RealClearPolitics, October 28, 2017.

  169. James Comey, “How Trump Co-Opts Leaders like Bill Barr,” New York Times, May 1, 2019; James Comey, “No ‘Treason,’ No Coup, Just Lies—and Dumb Lies at That,” Washington Post, May 28, 2019.

  170. James Comey, Twitter, March 24, 2019.

  171. James Comey, Twitter, March 23, 2019.

  172. Kevin R. Brock, “James Comey Is in Trouble and Knows It,” The Hill, May 7, 2019.

  173. William McGurn, “The Tales of Parson Comey,” Wall Street Journal, May 20, 2019.

  174. David Alexander and Eric Beech, “Ex–FBI Chief Comey Says Trump Undermines Rule of Law with ‘Lies,’ ” Reuters, December 17, 2018.

  175. Catherine Herridge and Cyd Upson, “Lisa Page Testimony: Collusion Still Unproven by Time of Mueller’s Special Counsel Appointment,” Fox News, September 16, 2018.

  Chapter 5: The Folly of Mueller’s Magnum Opus

  1. Code of Federal Regulations, 28 C.F.R. § 600.8, “Notification and Reports by the Special Counsel.”

  2. Robert S. Mueller, The Mueller Report: The Final Report of the Special Counsel into Donald Trump, Russia, and Collusion as Issued by the Department of Justice (New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2019), 39.

  3. Ibid., 195.

  4. “Read Attorney General William Barr’s Written Testimony Before Senate Judiciary Committee,” ABC News, May 1, 2019; full testimony of William Barr available at https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/the-department-of-justices-investigation-of-russian-interference-with-the-2016-presidential-election.

  5. Ibid; see also Margot Cleveland, “Robert Mueller’s 10 Most Egregious Missteps During Anti-Trump Russia Probe,” The Federalist, May 8, 2019.

  6. Ibid.

  7. The Mueller Report, 194–95.

  8. “Rep. Schiff on MSNBC: Obstruction Evidence Laid Out by Mueller Is Damning Enough,” YouTube, April 19, 2019.

  9. Constitution of the United States, Article II, Section 4.

  10. William P. Barr, Attorney General, letter to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, March 24, 2019, https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5779688/AG-March-24-2019-Letter-to-House-and-Senate.pdf.

  11. Credit should be given to Andrew C. McCarthy for employing the apt description “magnum opus,” which I first heard in a conversation with him. He also used it in a published column, Andrew C. McCarthy, “The Mueller Report Vindicates Bill Barr,” National Review, April 19, 2019.

  12. Alan Dershowitz, “Introduction to the Mueller Report,” The Mueller Report: The Final Report of the Special Counsel into Donald Trump, Russia, and Collusion as Issued by the Department of Justice (New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2019), 2–3.

  13. Barr, letter to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, March 24, 2019.

  14. Ibid.

  15. Ibid.

  16. Giles Snyder and Brian Naylor, “More 2020 Democrats Call for Impeachment Proceedings Against President Trump,” NPR, April 23, 2019.

  17. Jason Sattler, “2020 Litmus Test: All Democratic Candidates Should Call for Trump Impeachment Proceedings,” USA Today, May 1, 2019.

  18. Nicholas Fandos, “Pelosi Urges Caution on Impeachment as Some Democrats Push to Begin,” New York Times, April 22, 2019; Kyle Cheney, Heather Caygle, and Andrew Desiderio, “Pelosi Beats Back Calls for Trump Impeachment,” Politico, April 22, 2019.

  19. Emmet T. Flood, Special Counsel to the President, letter to William P. Barr, Attorney General, April 19, 2019, https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5986068/WHSC-to-AG-4-19-19.pdf, 2.

  20. The Mueller Report, 204.

  21. Ibid., 195, 204, and 347.

  22. Flood, letter to William P. Barr, April 19, 2019, 2.

  23. “Full Transcript: Mueller Testimony Before House Judiciary, Intelligence Committees,” NBC News, July 24, 2019, see questioning by Rep. John Ratcliffe, available at https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/full-transcript-robert-mueller-house-committee-testimony-n1033216.

  24. Testimony of Attorney General William Barr, Senate Judiciary Committee, May 1, 2019.

  25. Ibid.

  26. Flood, letter to William P. Barr, April 19, 2019, 2.

  27. The Mueller Report, 195.

  28. American Bar Association, Rule 3.8(f), “Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor,” https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_3_8_special_responsibilities_of_a_prosecutor/.

  29. Ibid.

  30. Adam Mill, “5 Times the Mueller Probe Broke Prosecutorial Rules That Ensure Justice,” The Federalist, April 25, 2019. (Adam Mill is a pen name for an attorney in Kansas City, Missouri.)

  31. Rod J. Rosenstein, Acting Attorney General, “Appointment of Special Counsel to Investigate Russian Interference with the 2016 Presidential Election and Related Matters,” Order No. 3915-2017, May 17, 2017, https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3726408-Rosenstein-letter-appointing-Mueller-special.html.

  32. “Full Transcript: Mueller Testimony Before House Judiciary, Intelligence Committees,” see questioning by Rep. Steve Chabot.

  33. Ibid.

  34. Chuck Grassley, “Prepared Floor Statement by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Senior Member and Former Chairman, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, on the Mueller Investigation,” May 6, 2019, https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-mueller-investigation.

  35. John Solomon, “Key Figure That Mueller Report Linked to Russia Was a State Department Intel Source,” The Hill, June 6, 2019.

  36. Andrew C. McCarthy, “Mueller’s Preposterous Rationale for Tainting the President with ‘Obstruction’ Allegations,” National Review, May 8, 2019.

  37. Brie Stimson, “Devin Nunes Calls ‘Fraud,’ Citing Difference Between Mueller Report, Dowd Transcript,” Fox News, June 1, 2019.

  38. Code of Federal Regulations, 28 C.F.R. § 600.7, “Conduct and Accountability.” See also Code of Federal Regulations, 28 C.F.R. § 45.2, “Disqualification Arising from Personal or Political Relationship.”

  39. 28 C.F.R. § 45.2.

  40. Peter Holley, “Brothers in Arms: The Long Friendship Between Mueller and Comey,” Washington Post, May 17, 2017; Garrett M. Graff, “Forged Under Fire—Bob Mueller and James Comey’s Unusual Friendship,” Washingtonian, May 30, 2013.

  41. United States Code, 28 U.S.C. § 528, “Disqualification of Officers and Employees of the Department of Justice.” See also R
onald D. Rotunda, “Alleged Conflicts of Interest Because of ‘Appearance of Impropriety,’ ” Chapman University, Fowler School of Law, 2005.

  42. Politico Staff, “Full Text: James Comey Testimony Transcript on Trump and Russia.”

  43. 28 C.F.R. § 45.2.

  44. Eric Felten, “Does Robert Mueller Have a Conflict of Interest?,” The Weekly Standard, July 5, 2018.

  45. Josh Gerstein, “Justice Department Won’t Disclose Details on Mueller Ethics Waiver,” Politico, December 12, 2017.

  46. Code of Federal Regulations, 28 C.F.R. § 600.1, “Grounds for Appointing a Special Counsel.”

  47. Carrie Johnson, “Special Counsel Robert Mueller Had Been on White House Shortlist to Run FBI,” NPR, June 9, 2017; Dan Merica, “Trump Interviewed Mueller for FBI Job Day Before He Was Tapped for Special Counsel,” CNN, June 13, 2017.

  48. Jonathan Turley, “The Special Counsel Investigation Needs Attorneys Without Conflicts,” The Hill, December 8, 2017.

  49. American Bar Association, Rule 3.7, “Lawyer as Witness,” https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_3_7_lawyer_as_witness/.

  50. The Mueller Report, page 259.

  51. Author’s interview with President Donald J. Trump, Oval Office, White House, June 25, 2019.

  52. Author’s discussion with Madeleine Westerhout, director of Oval Office Operations at the White House (previously personal secretary to the president), Oval Office, White House, June 25, 2019.

  53. “Full Transcript: Mueller Testimony Before House Judiciary, Intelligence Committees,” see questioning by Rep. Louie Gohmert.

  54. Ibid.

  55. Author’s interview with President Donald J. Trump, Bedminster, New Jersey, September 17, 2017; author’s interview with President Donald J. Trump, Oval Office, White House, June 25, 2019.

  56. Ibid.

  57. Ibid.

  58. The Mueller Report, page 452.

  59. Author’s interview with President Donald J. Trump, Oval Office, White House, June 25, 2019.

  60. Brooke Singman, “Special Counsel Mueller’s Team Has Only One Known Republican,” Fox News, February 23, 2018; David Sivak, “Exclusive: Not a Single Lawyer Known to Work for Mueller Is a Republican,” Daily Caller, February 21, 2018.