The Irrational, Unshakable Faith of the Collusion Conspiracists
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FBI agent dismissed from Mueller probe changed Comey's description of Clinton to 'extremely careless'
By [URL='http://www.cnn.com/profiles/laura-jarrett']Laura Jarrett and Evan Perez, CNN
Updated 6:43 PM ET, Mon December 4, 2017
Washington (CNN)A former top counterintelligence expert at the FBI, now at the center of a political uproar for
private messages [/URL]that appeared to mock President Donald Trump, changed a key phrase in former FBI Director James Comey's description of how former secretary of state Hillary Clinton handled classified information, according to US officials familiar with the matter.
Electronic records show Peter Strzok, who led the investigation of Hillary Clinton's private email server as the No. 2 official in the counterintelligence division, changed Comey's earlier draft language describing Clinton's actions as "grossly negligent" to "extremely careless," the sources said.
The drafting process was a team effort, CNN is told, with a handful of people reviewing the language as edits were made, according to another US official familiar with the matter.
FBI agent removed from Mueller investigation over anti-Trump messages
The shift from "grossly negligent" to "extremely careless," which may appear pedestrian at first glance, reflected a decision by the FBI that could have had potentially significant legal implications, as the federal law governing the mishandling of classified material establishes criminal penalties for "gross negligence."
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, raised questions over why the change was made after receiving documents from the FBI last month, but the identity of who was behind the edit has not been reported until now.
RELATED: Source explains why Comey didn't use 'grossly negligent' to describe Clinton
CNN has also learned that Strzok was the FBI official who signed the document officially opening an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, according to sources familiar with the matter. As the No. 2 official in counterintelligence, Strzok was considered to be one of the bureau's top experts on Russia.
But the news of Strzok's direct role in the statement that ultimately cleared the former Democratic presidential candidate of criminal wrongdoing, now combined with the fact that he was dismissed from special counsel Robert Mueller's team after exchanging private messages with an FBI lawyer that could be seen as favoring Clinton politically, may give ammunition to those seeking ways to discredit Mueller's Russia investigation.
The FBI and the Justice Department declined to comment.
Trump slams DOJ and FBI in weekend tweetstorm
CNN reported in November that Comey and his FBI colleagues were "playing with the language" throughout the process of drafting Comey's statement on Clinton, believing that they needed to condemn the former secretary of state's handling of classified information, while also making clear they would not recommend criminal charges, according to a source familiar with the FBI decision.
Comey ultimately called Clinton's conduct "extremely careless," but said "no reasonable prosecutor" would pursue charges based on the evidence.
"Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information," Comey said back in July 2016.
Grassley said that documents the FBI provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee in November included an earlier draft of Comey's exoneration statement from May 2016, which stated: "There is evidence to support a conclusion that Secretary Clinton, and others, used the private email server in a manner that was grossly negligent with respect to the handling of classified material."
Grassley then asked for the electronic "metadata," which would include "who created the original drafts, who made the edits to the draft statement, and when those edits were made."
Sources familiar with the requests tell CNN that Grassley has received the metadata, but he wants the FBI to provide further explanation about the changes.
Grassley's office did not return a request for comment.
CNN's Pamela Brown contributed to this report
By [URL='http://www.cnn.com/profiles/laura-jarrett']Laura Jarrett and Evan Perez, CNN
Updated 6:43 PM ET, Mon December 4, 2017
Washington (CNN)A former top counterintelligence expert at the FBI, now at the center of a political uproar for
private messages [/URL]that appeared to mock President Donald Trump, changed a key phrase in former FBI Director James Comey's description of how former secretary of state Hillary Clinton handled classified information, according to US officials familiar with the matter.
Electronic records show Peter Strzok, who led the investigation of Hillary Clinton's private email server as the No. 2 official in the counterintelligence division, changed Comey's earlier draft language describing Clinton's actions as "grossly negligent" to "extremely careless," the sources said.
The drafting process was a team effort, CNN is told, with a handful of people reviewing the language as edits were made, according to another US official familiar with the matter.
FBI agent removed from Mueller investigation over anti-Trump messages
The shift from "grossly negligent" to "extremely careless," which may appear pedestrian at first glance, reflected a decision by the FBI that could have had potentially significant legal implications, as the federal law governing the mishandling of classified material establishes criminal penalties for "gross negligence."
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, raised questions over why the change was made after receiving documents from the FBI last month, but the identity of who was behind the edit has not been reported until now.
RELATED: Source explains why Comey didn't use 'grossly negligent' to describe Clinton
CNN has also learned that Strzok was the FBI official who signed the document officially opening an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, according to sources familiar with the matter. As the No. 2 official in counterintelligence, Strzok was considered to be one of the bureau's top experts on Russia.
But the news of Strzok's direct role in the statement that ultimately cleared the former Democratic presidential candidate of criminal wrongdoing, now combined with the fact that he was dismissed from special counsel Robert Mueller's team after exchanging private messages with an FBI lawyer that could be seen as favoring Clinton politically, may give ammunition to those seeking ways to discredit Mueller's Russia investigation.
The FBI and the Justice Department declined to comment.
Trump slams DOJ and FBI in weekend tweetstorm
CNN reported in November that Comey and his FBI colleagues were "playing with the language" throughout the process of drafting Comey's statement on Clinton, believing that they needed to condemn the former secretary of state's handling of classified information, while also making clear they would not recommend criminal charges, according to a source familiar with the FBI decision.
Comey ultimately called Clinton's conduct "extremely careless," but said "no reasonable prosecutor" would pursue charges based on the evidence.
"Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information," Comey said back in July 2016.
Grassley said that documents the FBI provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee in November included an earlier draft of Comey's exoneration statement from May 2016, which stated: "There is evidence to support a conclusion that Secretary Clinton, and others, used the private email server in a manner that was grossly negligent with respect to the handling of classified material."
Grassley then asked for the electronic "metadata," which would include "who created the original drafts, who made the edits to the draft statement, and when those edits were made."
Sources familiar with the requests tell CNN that Grassley has received the metadata, but he wants the FBI to provide further explanation about the changes.
Grassley's office did not return a request for comment.
CNN's Pamela Brown contributed to this report
I just saw your bullshit post where it said "that is not an memorandum of understanding" so I posted a link where the url said "memorandum of understanding Clinton." Now you tell me you already saw that in your link. If you saw it, then what are you looking for a link from me for. Did not you understand the part where the letter said "memorandum of understanding."
Do you understand now why everyone thinks you are an idiot?
Sheesh. I will tell ya. The lefties here today are a real case of the blind leading the deaf, dumb, and blind.
Even if you read the document I doubt you have the intellect to grasp the difference between what it is and what you said.
You confuse and conflate everything to everything and in this foggy blur you chase your imagined dragon.
@Slartibartfast . Serious question...no troll intended. What specific action do you think the Russian/trump team did to collude ? Did they rig voting machines ? Intimidate voters ? What is the holy grail you hope is uncovered by the investigation ? Anyone ? specifics only.
I have no doubt Russia meddled, trying to influence elections is as old as spycraft itself. But what did Trump actually do to assist the Russians ? Specifically !
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Well lets just pick one thing for now as I need to get to bed.
Trump Jr. was soliciting information of value in full knowledge that it was from a foreign source. I know that one of the guys will butwhatabout Steele, that is a different matter.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/11/110.20#
"(b)Contributions and donations by foreign nationals in connection with elections. A foreign national shall not, directly or indirectly, make a contribution or a donation of money or other thing of value, or expressly or impliedly promise to make a contribution or a donation, in connection with any Federal, State, or local election."
As political dirt is expensive to search for usually, it can be safely considered "other thing of value".
Actually, googling the definition of solicit in this case I found this article which explains it better than I can.
https://www.vox.com/world/2017/7/10/15950590/donald-trump-jr-new-york-times-illegal
You're making me laugh
What a surprise to see Buy1Sell2 and Tom B simultaneously again.
Very similar styles those two, mighty similar.
Soliciting information is not proof of collusion. Not even close. Won't even point out trump Jr vs TRUMP. When you get up from bed try another. I'm serious, this is why I asked this question.