The Russia Hoax

by Gregg Jarrett

  36. Senate Judiciary Committee letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, August 30, 2017, available at https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2017-08-30%20CEG%20+%20LG%20to%20FBI%20(Comey%20Statement).pdf.

  37. Interview with Fred Tecce, former assistant U.S. attorney in Philadelphia and special assistant U.S. attorney at the Department of Justice, March 28, 2018.

  38. Ibid.

  39. United States Code, 18 U.S.C. 1505, “Obstruction of Proceedings Before Departments, Agencies, and Committees.”

  40. United States Code, 18 U.S.C. 1515(b), “Definitions for Certain Provisions; General Provisions.”

  41. Hearing Before the Committee on the Judiciary, “Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” testimony of James B. Comey, September 28, 2016, available at https://judiciary.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/114-91_22125.pdf.

  42. United States Code, 18 U.S.C. 1621, “Perjury Generally;” United States Code, 18 U.S.C. 1001, “Statements or Entries Generally.”

  43. Interview with Bill Gavin, former assistant director of the FBI, February 18, 2018.

  44. Interview with Oliver “Buck” Revell, former FBI assistant deputy director, March 19, 2018.

  45. Christopher Sign, “U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Bill Clinton Meeting Privately in Phoenix Before Benghazi Report,” KNXV-TV, ABC15, June 29, 2016 (updated July 4, 2016).

  46. Matt Zapotosky, “Attorney General Declines to Provide Any Details on Clinton Email Investigation,” Washington Post, July 12, 2017.

  47. Code of Federal Regulations, 28 C.F.R. 45.2, “Disqualification Arising from Personal or Political Relationship.”

  48. Douglas Ernst, “FBI Ordered ‘No Cellphones’ to Airport Witnesses of Lynch-Clinton Meeting, Reporter Says,” Washington Times, July 1, 2016.

  49. Jordan Sekulow, “DOJ Document Dump to ACLJ on Clinton Lynch Meeting: Comey, FBI Lied, Media Collusion, Spin and Illegality,” American Center for Law and Justice, August, 2017, available at https://aclj.org/government-corruption/doj-document-dump-to-aclj-on-clinton-lynch-meeting-comey-fbi-lied-media-collusion-spin-and-illegality.

  50. The Editors, “When Loretta Met Bill,” Weekly Standard, August 11, 2017.

  51. Zachary Cohen, “Comey Cites Lynch-Clinton Meeting for Lost Faith in Justice Investigation,” CNN, May 3, 2017.

  52. Testimony of FBI Director James Comey, Senate Judiciary Committee, May 3, 2017, available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/05/03/read-the-full-testimony-of-fbi-director-james-comey-in-which-he-discusses-clinton-email-investigation/?utm_term=.8a81b5b77e70.

  53. Peter Baker, “Comey Raises Concerns About Loretta Lynch’s Independence,” New York Times, June 8, 2017; Tal Kopan, “Comey: Lynch Asked for Clinton Investigation to Be Called a Matter,” CNN, June 8, 2017; Ed O’Keefe, “Comey Repeats That Lynch Asked Him to Describe Clinton Investigations as a ‘Matter,’ ” Washington Post, June 8, 2017; Kelly Cohen, “James Comey: Loretta Lynch Told Me Not to Call Clinton Email Probe an ‘Investigation,’ ” Washington Examiner, June 8, 2017.

  54. Ibid.

  55. Interview with Joseph diGenova, former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and former independent counsel, January 26, 2018.

  56. Malia Zimmerman and Adam Housley, “FBI, DOJ Roiled by Comey, Lynch Decision to Let Clinton Slide by on Emails, Says Insider,” Fox News, October 13, 2016.

  57. Ibid.

  58. Ibid.

  59. Ibid.

  60. United States Code, 18 U.S.C. 207, “Restrictions on Former Officers, Employees, and Elected Officials of the Executive and Legislative Branches.”

  61. Dan McLaughlin, “Why Did Hillary Clinton Spend Three and a Half Hours This Morning With FBI?,” National Review, July 2, 2016; Dan Berman, Evan Perez, and Pamela Browne, “Clinton Questioned by FBI as Part of Email Probe,” CNN, July 3, 2016.

  62. Tal Kopan and Evan Perez, “FBI Releases Hillary Clinton Email Report,” CNN, September 2, 2016; Aaron Blake, “Hillary Clinton Told the FBI She Couldn’t Recall Something More Than Three Dozen Times,” Washington Post, September 2, 2016.

  63. Malia Zimmerman and Adam Housley, “FBI, DOJ Roiled by Comey, Lynch Decision to Let Clinton Slide by on Emails, Says Insider,” Fox News, October 13, 2016.

  64. Paul Sperry, “FBI Agents Are Ready to Revolt Over the Cozy Clinton Probe,” New York Post, October 6, 2016.

  65. Ibid.

  66. Ibid.

  Chapter 3: “The Fix”

  1. FBI National Press Office, “Andrew McCabe Named Deputy Director of the FBI,” January 29, 2016, available at https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/andrew-mccabe-named-deputy-director-of-the-fbi.

  2. Lauretta Brown, “Judicial Watch Releases New DOJ Documents Showing McCabe’s Conflict of Interest in Clinton Investigation,” Townhall, November 22, 2017.

  3. Fox News, Catherine Herridge contributing, “Clinton Ally Helped Fund Campaign of Key FBI Official’s Wife,” Fox News, October 24, 2016; Judicial Watch, “New Documents Show FBI Deputy Director McCabe Did Not Recuse Himself from the Clinton Email Scandal Investigation Until Week Before Presidential Election,” November 3, 2017, available at https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-new-documents-show-fbi-deputy-director-mccabe-not-recuse-clinton-email-scandal-investigation-week-presidential-election/.

  4. Letter from Senator Charles Grassley, chairman of Senate Judiciary Committee, to James B. Comey, Jr., director of Federal Bureau of Investigation, March 28, 2017, available at https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-examines-potential-conflicts-top-fbi-official%E2%80%99s-role-russia-collusion.

  5. Lauretta Brown, “Judicial Watch Releases New DOJ Documents Showing McCabe’s Conflict of Interest in Clinton Investigation,” Townhall, November 22, 2017.

  6. Devlin Barrett, “Clinton Ally Aided Campaign of FBI Official’s Wife,” Wall Street Journal, October 24, 2016.

  7. Kevin Johnson, “FBI Documents: Andrew McCabe Had No Conflict in Hillary Clinton Email Probe,” USA Today, January 5, 2018.

  8. Natasha Bertrand, “Emails Released by the FBI Shed New Light on Deputy Director’s Recusal from Clinton Probe,” Business Insider, January 9, 2018.

  9. Ibid.

  10. Lauretta Brown, “Judicial Watch Releases New DOJ Documents Showing McCabe’s Conflict of Interest in Clinton Investigation,” Townhall, November 22, 2017; Judicial Watch, “New Documents Show FBI Deputy Director McCabe Did Not Recuse Himself from the Clinton Email Scandal Investigation Until Week Before Presidential Election,” November 3, 2017, available at https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-new-documents-show-fbi-deputy-director-mccabe-not-recuse-clinton-email-scandal-investigation-week-presidential-election/.

  11. Judicial Watch, “New Documents Show FBI Deputy Director McCabe Did Not Recuse Himself from the Clinton Email Scandal Investigation Until Week Before Presidential Election.”

  12. Ibid.

  13. Circa.com, “The Face of FBI Politics: Bureau Boss McCabe Under Hatch Act Investigation,” June 27, 2017, available at https://www.circa.com/story/2017/06/27/the-face-of-fbi-politics-bureau-boss-mccabe-under-hatch-act-investigation; letter by Charles E. Grassley, chairman of Committee on the Judiciary to Rod Rosenstein, deputy attorney general, December 1, 2017, available at https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2017-12-01%20CEG%20to%20DOJ%20(McCabe%20Hatch%20Act%20Emails).pdf.

  14. Letter from Senator Charles Grassley, chairman of Senate Judiciary Committee, to James B. Comey, Jr., director of Federal Bureau of Investigation, March 28, 2017, available at https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-examines-potential-conflicts-top-fbi-official%E2%80%99s-role-russia-collusion.

  15. John Solomon, “Early Comey Draft Accused Clinton of Gross Negligence on Emails,” The Hill, November 6, 2017.

  16. Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb, “Top FBI Official Grilled on Comey, Clinton in Hill Testimony,” CNN, December 22, 2017.

  17. Kelly Cohen, “FBI Deputy
Director Andrew McCabe to Retire: Report,” Washington Examiner, December 23, 2017.

  18. Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb, “Top FBI Official Grilled on Comey, Clinton in Hill Testimony,” CNN, December 22, 2017.

  19. Barnini Chakraborty, “FBI’s McCabe Faces GOP Calls for Ouster, Ahead of Closed-Door Testimony,” Fox News, December 19, 2017.

  20. Steven T. Dennis and Billy House, “FBI’s McCabe Meets with House Panel as Grassley Calls for His Firing,” Bloomberg, December 18, 2017; Chuck Ross, “FBI Deputy Director ‘Ought to Be Replaced,’ Says Top Senate Republican,” Daily Caller, December 19, 2017.

  21. Devlin Barrett and Karoun Demirjian, “Facing Republican Attacks, FBI’s Deputy Director Plans to Retire Early Next Year,” Washington Post, December 23, 2017; Adam Goldman, “Andrew McCabe, FBI’s Embattled Deputy, Is Expected to Retire,” New York Times, December 23, 2017.

  22. Judson Berger and Jake Gibson, “FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe ‘Removed’ From the Bureau,” Fox News, January 29, 2018.

  23. Reuters Staff, “Statement by Attorney General on Firing of FBI’s McCabe,” Reuters, March 17, 2018.

  24. Ibid.

  25. Alex Pappas, “IG Report Faults Ex-FBI Official McCabe for Lying Four Separate Times, Congressman Says,” Fox News, March 30, 2018.

  26. United States Code, 18 U.S.C. 1621, “Perjury, Generally”; United States Code, 18 U.S.C. 1001, “Statements or Entries Generally.”

  27. CNN Staff, “Read: Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s Statement on His Firing,” CNN, March 17, 2018.

  28. Washington Post Staff, “Read the Full Transcript of FBI Director James Comey In Which He Discusses Clinton Email Investigation,” Washington Post, May 3, 2017.

  29. Interview with James Kallstrom, former assistant director of the FBI, Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, March 18, 2018, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiRryItvVRo; Many Mayfield, “Former Assistant FBI Director: High-Ranking People Throughout the Government Had a Plot to Protect Hillary Clinton From Being Indicted,” Washington Examiner, March 18, 2018; Tim Hains, “Kallstrom: Brennan and Obama Are the People Who Committed Felonies, Not General Flynn,” RealClearPolitics, March 18, 2018.

  30. Interview with Oliver “Buck” Revell, former FBI assistant deputy director, March 19, 2018.

  31. John Solomon, “Early Comey Draft Accused Clinton of Gross Negligence on Emails,” The Hill, November 6, 2017.

  32. Karoun Demirjian and Devlin Barrett, “Top FBI Official Assigned to Mueller’s Russia Probe Said to Have Been Removed After Sending Anti-Trump Texts,” Washington Post, December 2, 2017; Michael S. Schmidt, Matt Apuzzo, and Adam Goldman, “Mueller Removed Top Agent in Russia Inquiry Over Possible Anti-Trump Texts,” New York Times, December 2, 2017; Jake Gibson, “ ‘Over 10,000 Texts’ Between Ex-Muller Team Officials Found, After Discovery of Anti-Trump Messages,” Fox News, December 6, 2017; Brooke Singman, Alex Pappas, Jake Gibson, “More Than 50,000 Texts Exchanged Between FBI Officials Strzok and Page, Sessions Says,” Fox News, January 22, 2018.

  33. FoxNews.com, “Ex-Mueller Aides’ Texts Revealed: Read Them Here,” Fox News, December 13, 2017.

  34. Ibid.

  35. Laura Jarrett and Evan Perez, “FBI Agent Dismissed from Mueller Probe Changed Comey’s Description of Clinton to ‘Extremely Careless,’ ” CNN, December 4, 2017.

  36. Jake Gibson and Justin Berger, “Comey Edits Revealed: Remarks on Clinton Probe Were Watered Down, Documents Show,” Fox News, December 14, 2017.

  37. Kelly Cohen, “DOJ Provides Congress with Hundreds of Texts Between Ex-Mueller Team Agent Peter Strzok and Alleged Mistress Lisa Page,” Washington Examiner, January 11, 2018.

  38. FoxNews.com, “Ex-Mueller Aides’ Texts Revealed: Read Them Here,” Fox News, December 13, 2017.

  39. Samuel Chamberlain, “Newly Released Texts Between Ex-Mueller Team Members Suggest They Knew Outcome of Clinton Email Probe in Advance,” Fox News, January 21, 2018.

  40. Brooke Singman, Alex Pappas, and Jake Gibson, “More Than 50,000 Texts Exchanged Between FBI Officials Strzok and Page, Sessions Says,” Fox News, January 22, 2018.

  41. Statement by FBI Director James B. Comey on the Investigation of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s Use of a Personal Email System, FBI National Press Office, July 5, 2016.

  42. Matt Zapotosky, “Attorney General Pledges to Accept FBI and Justice Findings in Clinton Email Probe,” Washington Post, July 1, 2016.

  43. Julian Hattem, “Attorney General Says She Will Defer to FBI on Clinton Emails,” The Hill, July 1, 2016.

  44. Ibid.

  45. John Solomon, “Early Comey Draft Accused Clinton of Gross Negligence on Emails,” The Hill, November 6, 2017.

  46. Brooke Singman, “New Texts Show ‘Fix Was In’ for Clinton Email Probe, GOP Lawmakers Say,” Fox News, January 26, 2018.

  47. Jake Gibson, “FBI Lovers’ Latest Text Messages: Obama ‘Wants to Know Everything,’ ” Fox News, February 7, 2018.

  48. Fox News Staff, “Exclusive: President Barack Obama on ‘Fox News Sunday,’ ” Fox News, April 10, 2016.

  49. Jake Gibson, “FBI Lovers’ Latest Text Messages: Obama ‘Wants to Know Everything,’ ” Fox News, February 7, 2018.

  50. Ibid.

  51. Bre Payton, “What We Know About the Dismissed FBI Agent Who Interviewed Michael Flynn,” Federalist, December 5, 2017.

  52. Chuck Ross, “Top Clinton Aides Face No Charges After Making False Statements to FBI,” Daily Caller, December 4, 2017.

  53. Ibid.

  54. United States Code, 18 U.S.C. 1001, “Statements or Entries Generally.”

  55. Chuck Ross, “Top Clinton Aides Face No Charges After Making False Statements to FBI,” Daily Caller, December 4, 2017.

  56. Sonam Sheth, “The FBI Agent Mueller Ousted Was Behind 2 Critical Turning Points in the Clinton and Trump Russia Investigations,” Business Insider, December 4, 2017.

  57. Editorial Board, “What the Strzok?,” New York Post, December 6, 2017.

  58. United States Code, 18 U.S.C. 1505, “Obstruction of Proceedings Before Departments, Agencies, and Committees.”

  59. United States Code, 5 U.S.C. 7323, “Political Activity Authorized; Prohibitions.”

  60. Statement of House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte at Oversight Hearing with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, December 13, 2017, available at https://goodlatte.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1064.

  Chapter 4: Clinton Greed and “Uranium Ore”

  1. Liz Kreutz, “Hillary Clinton Defends High-Dollar Speaking Fees,” ABC News, June 9, 2014, available at http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hillary-clinton-defends-high-dollar-speaking-fees/story?id=24052962.

  2. Dan Alexander, “How the Clintons Have Made $230 Million Since Leaving the White House,” Forbes, October 13, 2015.

  3. Ibid.

  4. Philip Rucker, Tom Hamburger, and Alexander Becker, “How the Clintons Went From ‘Dead Broke’ to Rich: Bill Earned $104.9 Million for Speeches,” Washington Post, June 26, 2014.

  5. Bob Fredericks, “How Foreign Cash Made Bill and Hillary ‘Filthy Rich,’ ” New York Post, April 20, 2015.

  6. Peter Schweizer, Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich (New York: Harper, 2015), p. 15.

  7. Ibid., p. 17.

  8. CQ Transcripts Wire, “Transcript: Hillary Clinton Confirmation Hearing, Washington Post, January 13, 2009.

  9. Jonathan Swan, “Seven Ways the Clinton Foundation Failed to Meet Its Transparency Promises,” The Hill, August 27, 2016.

  10. Jonathan Allen, “Exclusive: Despite Hillary Clinton Promise, Charity Did Not Disclose Donors,” Reuters, March 19, 2015.

  11. Ibid., p. 182.

  12. Victor Davis Hanson, “How the Clintons Got Rich Selling Influence While Decrying Greed,” National Review, July 26, 2016.

  13. Bruce Pannier, “Kazakhstan Long Term President to Run in Show Election—Again,” Guardian, March 1
1, 2015.

  14. “Fox News Reporting: The Tangled Clinton Web,” Fox News Channel, aired April 24, 2015.

  15. Schweizer, p. 29.

  16. Ibid., pp. 49 and 54.

  17. Ibid., p. 55.

  18. Mike Halers, “Russian Company Seeks to Buy U.S. Uranium Mining Operations,” CNN, September 25, 2010.

  19. Schweizer, pp. 44 and 45.

  20. Ibid., pp. 54 and 55.

  21. Ibid., p. 55.

  22. Ibid., p. 51.

  23. Jo Becker and Mike McIntire, “Cash Flowed to the Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal,” New York Times, April 23, 2015.

  24. Ibid.

  25. Schweizer, p. 48.

  26. Ibid.

  27. Ibid.

  28. Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger, “1,100 Donors to a Canadian Charity Tied to Clinton Foundation Remain Secret,” Washington Post, April 28, 2015.

  29. Callum Borchers, “Making Sense of Russia, Uranium One and Hillary Clinton, as Congress Opens an Investigation,” Washington Post, October 24, 2017.

  30. John Solomon and Alison Spann, “FBI Uncovered Russian Bribery Plot Before Obama Administration Approved Controversial Nuclear Deal with Moscow,” October 17, 2017.

  31. Ibid.

  32. Ibid.

  33. John Solomon, “Uranium One Informant Makes Clinton Allegations to Congress,” The Hill, February 7, 2018.

  34. John Solomon, “FBI Informant Gathered Years of Evidence on Russian Push for U.S. Nuclear Fuel Deals, Including Uranium One, Memos Show,” The Hill, November 20, 2017.

  35. John Solomon and Alison Spann, “FBI Informant Says U.S. Had Evidence to Block Billions in Nuclear Deals for Russia,” The Hill, March 23, 2018.

  36. John Solomon and Alison Spann, “Informant Provided FBI Evidence Russia Aided Iran Nuclear Program During Obama Years,” The Hill, March 26, 2018.

  37. John Solomon and Alison Spann, “Russian Uranium Informant Says FBI Sought New Information from Him About the Clintons,” The Hill, March 22, 2018.

  38. John Solomon, “Uranium One Informant Makes Clinton Allegations to Congress.”

  39. Jessica Kwong, “Russia Routed Millions to Influence Clinton in Uranium Deal, Informant Tells Congress,” Newsweek, February 8, 2018; David Krayden, “FBI Informant: US Lobbyists Paid by Russia to Influence Clinton on Uranium One,” Daily Caller, February 8, 2018.