The FBI released a tweet from an account that had not been active for a year. The tweet contained a file about a controversial pardon that Bill Clinton granted on his last day in office to Marc Rich, a financier who was living abroad to avoid arrest.

Why now? The FBI claimed it was an automatic response to Freedom of Information requests. But coming on the heels of Director James Comey’s announcement last Friday that he planned to review emails on Anthony Weiner’s computer that may or may not be significant, the latest data dump was strange to say the least. Once again, the agency ignored well-known Department protocols against meddling in elections. Does Comey have a vendetta against Clinton?

The story says:

“The Twitter account used to publicize the Rich files, an official FBI account called­@FBIRecordsVault, had been dormant for more than a year until Sunday, when it began to tweet links to archived documents. They included records related to Fred Trump, the father of the GOP nominee, which were posted to the website in early October. Those records included eight­ ­pages of largely biographical details about the elder Trump, much of which appeared to be compiled by the FBI in 1988. The agency advertised the Trump records by tweeting: “Fred C. Trump (1905-1999) was a real estate developer and philanthropist….” presumably it contained no reference to the Justice Department lawsuit against Fred and his son Donald for racial discrimination in renting apartments in the 1970s.

It continues:

“This week’s release of the Rich files demonstrates how many of the players in the current Hillary Clinton drama played roles in Clinton-related battles of the past. 
Comey, for instance, as a young prosecutor in New York, helped lead the case against Rich. Later, as U.S. attorney, he led the office that handled the investigation into the Clinton pardon from early 2002 to the end of 2003.
Former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr., a Clinton backer who this week wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that Comey made a “serious error” in announcing the resumption of the email probe, was deputy attorney general at the time of the pardon and acknowledged that he had been contacted directly by Rich’s attorney. The pardon was criticized in part for bypassing an established process in which Justice lawyers review applications for merit. Holder’s name was one of only a few not blacked out in the redacted files released this week.
Comey eventually supported Holder’s nomination for attorney general but told senators in 2008 that he had been “stunned” by the Rich pardon and that Holder’s actions in the case reflected a “huge misjudgment.”

Comey is rapidly undermining the FBI’s reputation for nonpartisanship. What else will the FBI release in the next week?

Outrage grows in Washington about FBI Director James Comey’s unusual announcement of a renewed investigation of emails on Anthony Weiner’s computer, says the Washington Post.

“On Monday, criticism of Comey continued to mount, notably from prominent former law enforcement officials. Democrats and Republicans alike on Capitol Hill amplified their demands that Comey and Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch provide a more detailed account of the investigation into the emails, which were found on a computer belonging to former congressman Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) earlier this fall….

“Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote Comey Monday saying that the disclosure provided to Congress last week “did not go far enough” and was unfair to Congress, the American people and Clinton.


“In the absence of additional, authoritative information from the FBI in the wake of your vague disclosure, Congress and the American people are left to sift through anonymous leaks from Justice Department officials to the press of varying levels of detail, reliability, and consistency,” Grassley wrote. “The American people deserve better than that.

”
The senator asked Comey to answer by Nov. 4 a series of questions about the discovery of the emails and what the FBI has learned about their contents.
Grassley’s request adds to the increasing pressure on Comey to release more details and clarify his letter to Congress. A bipartisan group of about 100 former federal prosecutors and senior Justice Department officials have also called on Comey to release more information.



“We do not question Director Comey’s motives,” wrote the group, which included President Obama’s former attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., and former deputy attorney general Larry Thompson, who served under President George W. Bush.


“However, the fact remains that the Director’s disclosure has invited considerable, uninformed public speculation about the significance of newly-discovered material just days before a national election,” the group wrote. “For this reason, we believe the American people deserve all the facts, and fairness dictates releasing information that provides a full and complete picture regarding the material at issue.”


Comey set off a firestorm Friday by telling the chairmen of eight congressional committees that the FBI would take “appropriate investigative steps” to determine whether newly discovered emails found in an unrelated investigation contain classified information and to assess whether they are relevant to the investigation involving Clinton’s private email server. The unrelated case was an investigation of Weiner, who is accused of having explicit exchanges with a 15-year-old girl. Weiner is the estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin.


Justice officials have said that before Comey notified Congress, they warned him that doing so would go against long-standing practices of the department not to comment on ongoing investigations and not to take steps that could be viewed as influencing an election.


“However, officials familiar with Comey’s decision said that he felt a sense of obligation to lawmakers to “supplement” his testimony under oath in July that the Clinton investigation was complete and there would be no charges. Comey was also concerned that word of the new email discovery would leak to the media and raise questions of a coverup, the officials said.

Comey’s disclosure about the Clinton probe is particularly striking, some U.S. officials said, because he had advised against the administration publicly accusing Russia of trying to meddle in the 2016 election because it would seem too political too close to Election Day. Comey eventually supported the administration’s Oct. 7 denunciation, which alluded to hacks of Democratic Party organizations, as long as it did not have the FBI’s name on it, officials said. His desire to keep the FBI out of the announcement stemmed from several concerns, including a wish not to appear biased as the bureau conducted a probe into Russian hacking, they said. Comey’s position was first reported by CNBC.”

Donald Trump announced on the campaign trail that the FBI re-opened the investigation because they knew the emails demonstrated that Clinton had engaged in very serious criminal activity. He added that Clinton was so corrupt that she could not possibly be a role model for the nation’s children.

Trump has dragged Clinton through the mud so often that he hopes some of the mud sticks. His comment about a “role model” reflects Trump’s love of calling his opponent whatever he is called. With his long record of lies, fraud, and boasting, as well as his bragging about sexually assaulting women, no one would call him a role model.

I heard this interview on the radio today.

It is even better to watch Jake Tapper interview Michael Moore.

It begins with a discussion of Trump tweeting a selection of a quote from Moore, that gave the false impression that Moore is a supporter.

It only takes about 3 minutes.

It is no secret that Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker wants to more privately managed charter schools in his state. He has been openly campaigning for Question 2, that would privatize a dozen schools every year for the indefinite future. As readers on this blog have often noted, once charter schools are part of the picture, they dominate all discussions about education. As we have seen in many other states, charter schools fight any accountability or transparency even though they receive public money. They operate in secret with taxpayer dollars, keep the students they want, push out the ones they don’t want.

Recently some emails became public that reveal an interesting part of the discussion. The advocates for charter schools in the governor’s office are advised to use their personal email accounts, so their efforts to promote privatization cannot be subject to FOIL (Freedom of Information Law). They are paid by the public, and acting against the public interest, and they don’t want voters to read about their conversations.

The emails can be seen here.

Good news for Zephyr Teachout!

She received the endorsement of the News York Times!

From the New York Times’ endorsement of Zephyr Teachout:

“In the sprawling 19th District, in the Hudson Valley and Catskills, Zephyr Teachout, a Democrat, is running against John Faso, a Republican who was the Assembly minority leader. Ms. Teachout, a Fordham law professor and author, is an expert on political corruption and the corrosive influence of money in politics. She gained national attention as a political novice for her surprisingly potent bid to unseat Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the 2014 Democratic primary. Her campaign is focused on fighting corporate monopolies and dirty money, protecting the environment and cutting red tape for small businesses and farms. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a kindred spirit, has endorsed her.

“Mr. Faso, well known and respected in this district, has a lifetime ‘A’ rating from the National Rifle Association. He wants to support the local economy by speeding up environmental reviews of big projects and cutting corporate taxes. Mr. Faso says he disagrees with Mr. Trump on several issues but refuses to say whether or not he will vote for him. Ms. Teachout is the better candidate for this era of gridlock and disillusionment. She promises to be the strong voice for change in Washington that so many angry voters are demanding.”

John Podesta, leader of Hillary Clinton’s campaign, commented on the Letter written by FBI Director John Comey.

From: “John Podesta, Hillary for America”
Date: October 29, 2016 at 6:41:21 PM EDT

Friend —

By now, you’ve probably heard some news about a bewildering letter sent to Congressional leaders by the Director of the FBI.

This is all a bit confusing, and much of the reporting has been misleading or downright inaccurate, so I want to take a minute to walk through this. Bear with me!

Here’s the quick backstory: In July, FBI Director James Comey concluded a year-long investigation by deciding not to go forward with any case about Hillary’s emails. It wasn’t even a close call, he said. In his words, “no reasonable prosecutor” would have brought charges.

Yesterday, in a surprise to us all, Comey wrote a very strange letter to Congress that was long on innuendo and short on facts. He said that in a completely separate investigation, the FBI had found some emails that may or may not be related to Hillary, and indeed may or may not be significant at all.

It’s since been reported that these emails may not have even been sent by or to Hillary; that they weren’t withheld by Hillary or the campaign in the earlier investigation; and most or even all of them may be duplicates of emails already in the FBI’s possession.

It’s being reported that Comey sent this letter over the objections of Department of Justice officials who told him that it was inconsistent with longstanding policy of both Democratic and Republican administrations not to take action that might impact an election. It’s an unprecedented intrusion into a close presidential election with 10 days until Election Day.

But by being vague and obfuscating, Comey opened the door to conspiracy theories, Republican attacks against Hillary, and a surge of fundraising for Trump and his team. So this bears repeating: There is no evidence of wrongdoing, no charge of wrongdoing, and no indication that any of this even involves Hillary.

Voters deserve answers.

Comey needs to come clean with the American people about what he found and answer all the questions about why he took this unprecedented step less than two weeks before the election.

Here’s what this changes for you and this campaign: Absolutely nothing.

Trump has spent more than a year trying to bully his way to the presidency. He’s been browbeating the FBI (indeed, many have speculated that Comey took this extraordinary action in part to reduce the pressure on his agency that Trump’s campaign and his Republican Congressional allies has been building up), leading crowds in chants of “lock her up,” and even saying Hillary should be in prison — and if he won, he’d put her there.

The facts be damned — Trump’s always shown a complete disregard for the truth. In spite of there being no new information, he’s already raising money off the bizarre letter (he literally sent a text message asking for money within an hour of the story breaking!) and he’s more fired up than ever on the trail today.

These are the actions of a desperate man. Trump knows he can’t win on his character, temperament, or his policies. He’s behind, so he’ll cling to whatever he can.

So, no, our strategy doesn’t change. But our intensity needs to, because we can’t let him get away with this.

Our organizers and volunteers on the ground are rallying behind Hillary in what will be the biggest volunteer weekend of the campaign so far. You need to get her back, too. You need to say you’re not willing to let Trump bully or buy his way into the presidency, and you’re not going to let anything stop us from making history.

There are ten days to go. Let’s buckle down, stay focused, and win this.

Thanks,

John

John Podesta
Chair
Hillary for America