{"id":109439,"date":"2018-11-29T07:11:43","date_gmt":"2018-11-29T11:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=109439"},"modified":"2018-11-29T07:11:59","modified_gmt":"2018-11-29T11:11:59","slug":"media-darling-mueller-promoted-by-all-the-usual-suspects-and-agents-of-deep-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=109439","title":{"rendered":"Media Darling Mueller Promoted by All the Usual Suspects and Agents of <i>Deep State<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Robert Mueller: Dirty Cop &amp; Mainstream Media Darling<\/h1>\n<p><!--more--><a href=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-29-at-6.08.49-AM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-29-at-6.08.49-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"658\" height=\"341\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-109433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-29-at-6.08.49-AM.png 658w, https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-29-at-6.08.49-AM-300x155.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 658px) 100vw, 658px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>True Pundit<\/p>\n<p>A former colleague recently\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawfareblog.com\/quick-thoughts-bob-mueller\">characterized Robert Mueller<\/a>\u00a0as \u201cramrod straight\u201d and \u201cutterly incorruptible.\u201d Similar language was breathlessly repeated in mainstream media biographies on Mueller in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/magazine\/story\/2017\/05\/18\/james-comey-trump-special-prosecutor-robert-mueller-fbi-215154\">Politico<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-39958819\">BBC<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/4828081\/robert-mueller-special-counsel\/\">Time<\/a>\u00a0magazine. Mueller\u2019s Vietnam-era\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/us-politics\/trump-russia-investigation-latest-robert-mueller-special-counsel-tabor-academy-honesty-integrity-a7762291.html\">service in the United States Marine Corps<\/a>\u00a0and 2004 tag-team with then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey to save American democracy from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/politics\/la-na-pol-mueller-comey-ashcroft-domestic-surveillance-20170517-story.html\">warrantless spying\u00a0<\/a>are mainstays of these biographies, which always send a clear message that his integrity is beyond reproach.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s always suspicious when anyone\u2019s credibility is oversold like this, but that goes double when the same person was FBI director for 12 years\u2014spanning across both the Bush\u00a0<i>and<\/i>\u00a0Obama administrations from 2001 to 2013\u2014yet most people can\u2019t remember anything about him. We\u00a0<i>should<\/i>\u00a0remember\u00a0<i>actions<\/i>\u00a0he took to impartially uphold the law. Sadly, that is not the case.<\/p>\n<p>What stands out most during then-FBI Director Mueller\u2019s term in office is the two-tiered system of justice, when obvious crimes and scandals involving government officials and private-sector elites were ignored or even covered up by the FBI. What Mueller\u00a0<i>failed to do<\/i>\u00a0to protect our country says more than anything he did.<\/p>\n<p>Recent leaks suggest that Special Counsel Mueller is examining one of the President\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mypalmbeachpost.com\/news\/trump-2008-mansion-sale-russian-part-investigation-report\/qrJFs9W3Z3gCD81LT7CaAO\/\">2008 Palm Beach real estate deals<\/a>, as well as the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2017\/jul\/20\/robert-muellers-investigation-of-donald-trumps-bus\/\">2013 Miss Universe competition\u00a0<\/a>held in Moscow. During the very same time period as those events, FBI Director Mueller\u00a0<i>repeatedly<\/i>\u00a0failed to act in cases involving government corruption and dangerous crimes. His level of aggressiveness in investigating our President is the exact inverse of how he acted when he was tasked with protecting America.<\/p>\n<p><b>Major Scandals During Mueller\u2019s FBI Years:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>As the nation\u2019s top cop, then-FBI Director Mueller had massive resources to investigate crimes, as well as the ability to arrest suspects and recommend prosecution of the offenders. The following is an abbreviated list of major scandals and likely crimes that Mueller did not meaningfully investigate as FBI Director\u2014no arrests, no consequences:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2004\/jul\/09\/usa.iraq2\">Falsification of Iraq War intelligence<\/a>\u00a0(2003): information providing the sole justification for a war that caused the death and dismemberment of thousands of American soldiers was later found to be fabricated, false, or overstated at the time it was presented to the public. Mueller not only failed to investigate and arrest any of the perpetrators of this deception\u2014he\u00a0<i>actively participated<\/i>\u00a0in the plot:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/videopress.com\/embed\/8sssD7of?hd=0&amp;autoPlay=0&amp;permalink=0&amp;loop=0\" width=\"660\" height=\"372.24\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2007\/feb\/08\/usa.iraq1\">Vanishing Currency<\/a>\u00a0(2003): the US government sent $12\u00a0<i>billion\u00a0<\/i>in $100 bills to the Iraq War combat theater, which mostly went unaccounted for after it entered the country<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eff.org\/nsa-spying\/timeline\">NSA Warrantless Surveillance<\/a>\u00a0(2001-2013): illegal collection of domestic phone records and internet communications that were sent or received by US citizens, in violation of Fourth Amendment protections against warrantless search and seizure,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZbZt1zLQ11E\">followed by potential perjury<\/a>\u00a0committed by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who denied the practices under oath; the 2013\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/2014\/06\/05\/edward-snowden-revelations\/#VAMHgMNWKPqD\">Snowden revelations<\/a>\u00a0proved that the 2004 story about Comey and Mueller stopping illegal surveillance practices was nearly meaningless in practice<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/cnn.worldnews.printthis.clickability.com\/pt\/cpt?expire=&amp;title=White+House%3A+Millions+of+e-mails+may+be+missing+-+CNN.com&amp;urlID=21942102&amp;action=cpt&amp;partnerID=2006&amp;fb=Y&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2007%2FPOLITICS%2F04%2F13%2Fwhite.house.email%2Findex.html%3Feref%3Drss_topstories\">Emailgate<\/a>\u00a0(2007): discovery that several top Bush administration officials violated the Presidential Records Act by using an RNC server for email communications while conducting official business, followed by the deletion of\u00a0<i>millions<\/i>\u00a0of the same emails<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsws.org\/en\/articles\/2007\/03\/reed-m10.html\">Walter Reed Neglect Scandal<\/a>\u00a0(2007): troops recovering from severe war-related injuries were subjected to squalid living conditions and grotesquely substandard care due to a privatization agreement that resulted in drastic staffing cuts,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/army-official-who-revealed-deplorable-conditions-at-veterans-treatment-facility-is-forced-to-resign-7e8d42f2e93b\">after which patients were told to \u201ckeep quiet\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and whistleblowers suffered retaliation from higher-ups<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/big-government\/2017\/04\/10\/documents-confirm-that-obama-irs-improperly-targeted-conservatives\/\">IRS Targeting<\/a>\u00a0(2010-2013): the IRS intentionally selected and then delayed or denied tax-exempt 501(c)(3) applications from conservative groups to prevent them from participating in the 2012 election, followed by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kellyphillipserb\/2015\/04\/01\/lois-lerner-escapes-criminal-contempt-charges-no-waiver-of-fifth-amendment\/#1c9111ad5cf4\">IRS agent Lois Lerner<\/a>\u00a0invoking her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2016\/04\/fast-and-furious-gunwalking-white-house\/477612\/\">Fast and Furious<\/a>\u00a0(2010): this ATF program, which seems to have served no rational purpose, allowed over 2,000 guns to be purchased illegally inside the United States and then \u201cwalked\u201d into Mexico for use by criminals, one of which was later used in the 2010 murder of Border Agent Brian Terry by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/04\/13\/us\/arrest-border-patrol-agent-killing\/index.html\">the member of a Mexican cartel<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/2013\/05\/now-its-3-major-scandals-strangling-obama\/\">Associated Press Spying<\/a>\u00a0(2012): the Department of Justice illegally seized the communications of AP reporters made during April and May 2012, allowing the DOJ to unmask journalists\u2019 confidential sources<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2016\/oct\/24\/clintons-top-10-pay-play-allegations\/\">Clinton Foundation Pay-for-Play<\/a>\u00a0(2009-2013): during the period in which Hillary Clinton held the office of Secretary of State, the Clinton Foundation and Bill Clinton received millions of dollars in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/2017\/07\/18\/hillary-clinton-sided-with-russia-on-sanctions-as-bill-made-500g-on-moscow-speech.html\">paid speaking fees<\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-election-foundation-idUSKBN12Z2SL\">million dollar \u201cgift\u201d<\/a>\u00a0from countries involved in matters with the State Department,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/08\/21\/us\/politics\/hillary-clinton-presidential-campaign-charity.html\">many of which had ties to terrorism<\/a>\u00a0and human rights abuses; some of these funds were apparently diverted from charitable causes to personal expenses, such as\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/emails-foundation-resources-used-for-chelsea-clintons-wedding\/article\/2606615\">Chelsea Clinton\u2019s 2010 wedding<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/04\/24\/us\/cash-flowed-to-clinton-foundation-as-russians-pressed-for-control-of-uranium-company.html\">Russian Uranium Deal<\/a>\u00a0(2009-2013): Hillary Clinton\u2019s State Department approved a deal allowing a Russian company to control 20% of the uranium mining production capacity\u00a0<i>inside the United States<\/i>, which was followed by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.investors.com\/politics\/commentary\/check-it-out-the-new-york-times-just-exposed-the-hillary-clinton-russia-nexus\/\">millions of dollars in donations<\/a>\u00a0to the Clinton Foundation from people associated with the transaction<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wikileaks.org\/clinton-emails\/\">Clinton Private Email Server<\/a>\u00a0(2009-2013): during her entire tenure as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton dodged Freedom of Information Act requirements by using a private email server to conduct official government business, as well as sent and received classified information that was Top Secret over an unsecured system\u2014an \u201cextremely reckless\u201d (and obviously illegal) act<\/p>\n<p><b>HSBC Bank Money Laundering Scandal:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Although it received little coverage in the mainstream media, the HSBC money laundering case reveals the complete and total corruption of federal law enforcement toward the end of Mueller\u2019s term as FBI Director. No case demonstrates how the swamp works better than this one.<\/p>\n<p>For nearly the entire duration of Mueller\u2019s term, UK-based HSBC, an international bank with divisions and depositors worldwide, was doing\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/opa\/legacy\/2012\/12\/11\/dpa-attachment-a.pdf\">billions of dollars in business with drug cartels, rouge nations, and even banks associated with terrorism<\/a>, taking massive deposits made in foreign nations and funneling them into its US banks. The overall amounts were staggering, totaling hundreds of billions of dollars, which likely gave HSBC a comparative advantage over its rivals and greater market share, while providing international criminals with the ability to \u201claunder\u201d money into the US banking system with little-to-no oversight. In 2012, a whistleblower, who\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/2012\/05\/banking-giant-hsbc-a-criminal-enterprise\/\">collected information and recorded conversations<\/a>\u00a0with HSBC employees, provided strong proof to the public that the bank was operating as a \u201ccriminal enterprise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>Mexican Drug Cartels:<\/b>\u00a0From 2002 to at least 2009 (and possibly much longer), HSBC bank laundered billions of US dollars for\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/texas\/2016\/01\/11\/hold-warning-graphic-the-most-brutal-murders-linked-to-el-chapos-sinaloa-cartel\/\">Joaquin \u201cEl Chapo\u201d Guzman\u2019s murderous Sinaloa Cartel<\/a>\u00a0and similar groups. In 2009, Forbes\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/lists\/2009\/20\/power-09_Joaquin-Guzman_NQB6.html\">placed El Chapo at #41<\/a>\u00a0on its \u201cWorld\u2019s Most Powerful People\u201d list. The same year, many experts agreed that Mexico\u2019s drug war had\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2009\/03\/23\/102188685\/violence-continues-as-drug-wars-rage-in-mexico\">rendered it a \u201cfailed state.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0By 2012, the Sinaloa cartel alone was estimated to have\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/06\/17\/magazine\/how-a-mexican-drug-cartel-makes-its-billions.html\">annual revenues of $3 billion<\/a>, which were comparable to\u00a0<i>Facebook\u00a0<\/i>or\u00a0<i>Netflix<\/i>. By April 2013, toward the end of Mueller\u2019s term, the Sinaloa and other Mexican cartels had become the number one importer and distributor of narcotics inside the United States (with many of the cartel\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/mexico-drug-cartels-sending-top-agents-to-run-crime-rings-deep-inside-us-territory-ap-finds\/\">top agents living inside the United States<\/a>), El Chapo had become \u201cpublic enemy no. 1,\u201d and 70,000 murders and nearly 27,000 disappearances were\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/mexico-drug-war-has-led-to-26121-disappearances\/\">attributable to the drug war<\/a>\u00a0inside Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>Ignoring the obvious, HSBC inexplicably\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business-18880269\">designated Mexico a \u201clow risk\u201d country for money laundering<\/a>, allowing\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/2012\/jul\/17\/hsbc-executive-resigns-senate\">shady depositors and known drug kingpins<\/a>\u00a0to deposit<i>billions<\/i>\u00a0of US dollars\u2014in\u00a0<i>cash<\/i>\u2014into bank accounts in HSBC Mexico, followed by the same money becoming accessible at HSBC in the US. With legitimate-looking banking, the Mexican drug cartels were given huge expansion potential\u00a0<i>inside the US<\/i>\u00a0that would otherwise have been easily detected if the cartels tried to purchase properties, vehicles, and shell businesses here using\u00a0<i>cash<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>Much of the cash crossing the US-Mexico border (estimated at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2010\/08\/25\/AR2010082507206.html\">$25 billion per year<\/a>\u00a0in 2010) found a ready home in HSBC branches south of the Rio Grande. HSBC Mexico made\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/news\/outrageous-hsbc-settlement-proves-the-drug-war-is-a-joke-20121213\">billions of dollars in suspicious transactions<\/a>, such as customers depositing hundreds of thousands of US dollars into a single bank account in a single day, during which the cash was put through teller windows in boxes that were\u00a0<i>designed to fit through the window openings<\/i>. Because there was virtually no investigation into these transactions or even the identities of depositors, who included high-profile drug dealers, accounts were rarely closed due to the suspicious activity. After all, Mexico was a \u201clow risk\u201d country for money laundering at the time.<\/p>\n<p><b>Terrorists and Rogue Nations:\u00a0<\/b>The bank\u2019s practices also allowed\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/afontevecchia\/2012\/07\/16\/hsbc-helped-terrorists-iran-mexican-drug-cartels-launder-money-senate-report-says\/#25bb9bf95712\">terrorist groups and rogue nations<\/a>\u00a0to have access to\u00a0<i>our<\/i>\u00a0financial markets in a similar manner, facilitating financing of their activities inside this country, as well as providing greater international investment possibilities for sanctioned regimes\u2014including $19 billion deposited from\u00a0<i>Iran<\/i>\u00a0into HSBC\u2019s foreign affiliate banks. There were also lax rules for setting up relationships with affiliate banks in other countries, which included a Saudi Arabian bank with\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2012\/07\/16\/news\/companies\/hsbc-money-laundering\/index.htm\">ties to funding terrorism<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Policies Prevented Catching Crooks:\u00a0<\/b>Even in the rare instance where money laundering controls were in place,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/news\/senate-throws-book-hsbc-accusing-it-massive-money-laundering-drug-trafficking-and-terrorist-fin?page=1\">inadequate follow-up measures undermined any intervention<\/a>. The US division of HSBC allowed thousands of suspicious accounts to remain open\u00a0<i>after<\/i>\u00a0they were flagged for closure. \u201cKnow your customer\u201d practices were virtually nonexistent, which allowed bad actors to get around things like Iranian sanctions and Patriot Act protections, which in turn was aggravated by bank employees doing things like\u00a0<i>deleting information<\/i>\u00a0about the country of origin on deposits from places like\u00a0<i>Iran<\/i>. Large-scale warnings, such as the migration of billions of US dollars\u00a0<i>in cash deposits<\/i>\u00a0into HSBC Mexico, went unnoticed because the bank apparently had no system in place to monitor such activity. To say all of this was \u201cextremely reckless\u201d would be an understatement\u2014it\u2019s inconceivable that the bank\u2019s employees and executives didn\u2019t know what was happening at the time.<\/p>\n<p><b>\u201cRamrod\u201d Mueller to the Rescue:\u00a0<\/b>What did Mueller do to aggressively investigate and shut down this massive \u201cforeign influence\u201d involving our country\u2019s drug epidemic and threat of terrorism? Basically nothing.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2012\/dec\/12\/hsbc-prosecution-fine-money-laundering\">No bank executives or employees were arrested or jailed<\/a>. People have spent more time in jail for\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/news\/nation-world\/national\/article146490214.html\">smoking a joint<\/a>\u00a0than any HSBC executive or employee did for facilitating drug cartel business and terrorist financing.<\/p>\n<p>On October 17, 2010, the Treasury Department issued\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.occ.gov\/news-issuances\/news-releases\/2010\/nr-occ-2010-121.html\">\u201ccease and desist\u201d letter<\/a>\u00a0to HSBC for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. This was followed by a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business-18867054\">Senate subcommittee investigation<\/a>, which provided a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hsgac.senate.gov\/subcommittees\/investigations\/hearings\/us-vulnerabilities-to-money-laundering-drugs-and-terrorist-financing-hsbc-case-history\">comprehensive report and took hearing testimony<\/a>\u00a0on July 17, 2012. In what\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/2012\/jul\/17\/hsbc-executive-resigns-senate\">appeared to be prepared remarks<\/a>, one bank compliance executive\u00a0<i>resigned<\/i>\u00a0at the hearing, while another executive indicated HSBC \u201cdid our best\u201d in Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>With nearly all of the investigation already completed by the Senate and already in the public eye, the Department of Justice was\u00a0<i>finally<\/i>\u00a0forced to file a four-count felony indictment against defendant HSBC on December 11, 2012, which included three felony counts relating to grossly inadequate anti-money laundering practices and one count for violation of the\u00a0<i>Trading With The Enemy Act<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>On the same day, and over the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2016\/07\/12\/eric-holders-longtime-excuse-for-not-prosecuting-banks-just-crashed-and-burned\/\">objections of career DOJ prosecutors<\/a>, then-AG Holder allowed HSBC to enter into a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/Archives\/edgar\/data\/83246\/000119312512499980\/d453978dex101.htm\">deferred prosecution agreement<\/a>, under which the charges would be\u00a0<i>dropped<\/i>\u00a0if the bank stayed out of trouble for 5 years and paid a \u201crecord fine\u201d consisting of $1.256 billion in forfeited assets and an additional $665 million in civil penalties. Added together, the punishment totaled approximately 9% of\u00a0<i>one year\u2019s profits<\/i>\u00a0for HSBC\u2019s worldwide operations, which\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.whatinvestment.co.uk\/hsbc-profits-surge-15-per-cent-in-2011-2088763\/\">amounted to a whopping $21.9 billion in 2011<\/a>\u00a0alone.<\/p>\n<p>Also the same day, then-US Attorney Loretta Lynch led a press conference alleging that (1) an alphabet soup of federal agencies had conducted a serious investigation and (2) the \u201crecord fine\u201d was somehow adequate punishment. Notably, \u201cramrod straight\u201d Mueller and Holder were\u00a0<i>not<\/i>\u00a0present, despite the obvious national importance of the case.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/hsbc-holdings-plc-and-hsbc-bank-usa-na-admit-anti-money-laundering-and-sanctions-violations\">The DOJ<\/a>\u2019s press release (echoed by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archives.fbi.gov\/archives\/washingtondc\/press-releases\/2012\/hsbc-holdings-plc-and-hsbc-bank-usa-n.a.-admit-to-anti-money-laundering-and-sanctions-violations-forfeit-1.256-billion-in-deferred-prosecution-agreement\">the FBI<\/a>, which simply re-posted DOJ\u2019s release) bragged about the \u201cheavy price\u201d of the fine being imposed. Despite the \u201cheavy price\u201d paid for its rampant criminal behavior, HSBC was somehow able to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.clintonfoundation.org\/press-releases\/president-clinton-former-secretary-state-hillary-rodham-clinton-and-chelsea-clinton-0\">sponsor the star-studded 2014 Clinton Global Initiative<\/a>. (Perhaps not coincidentally, the Clinton Foundation also received up to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2015\/feb\/10\/hillary-clinton-foundation-donors-hsbc-swiss-bank\">$81,000,000 in donations<\/a>\u00a0from HSBC\u2019s illustrious group of account holders.)<\/p>\n<p>But not everyone bought into Lynch\u2019s sales pitch. Even CBS News seemed\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/drug-cartels-bank-hsbc-to-see-no-arrests\/\">suspicious of the deal<\/a>, which was obviously disproportionate to the criminal conduct involved:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/videopress.com\/embed\/gQOjSq5f?hd=0&amp;autoPlay=0&amp;permalink=0&amp;loop=0\" width=\"660\" height=\"372.24\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>While a US citizen\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.startribune.com\/two-rochester-women-get-10-20-years-for-aiding-somalia-terrorists\/207699791\/\">sending money to terrorists<\/a>\u00a0can result in a 20-year prison sentence, and many US citizens have been sentenced to decades in prison for even\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.salon.com\/2012\/10\/29\/ten_worst_sentences_for_marijuana_related_crimes\/\">marijuana-related crimes<\/a>, the bank\u2019s executives and employees\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/news\/gangster-bankers-too-big-to-jail-20130214\">never spent one day in jail<\/a>\u00a0for their roles in assisting terrorist-connected nations and Mexican drug cartels to do business in the United States\u2014an example of the \u201ctwo systems\u201d of justice than many Americans believe exist between the elites and regular citizens.<\/p>\n<p>If the FBI uses search warrants, recorded transactions, confidential informants, wiretaps, GPS tracking, and conducts a broad sweep of witness interviews in cases involving drug trafficking and terrorism in other cases, why wouldn\u2019t Mueller have\u00a0<i>done the same<\/i>\u00a0to build a case here? Mueller\u2019s\u00a0<i>absence<\/i>\u00a0in the HSBC case says as much about the cover-up as when Holder\u00a0<i>refused<\/i>\u00a0to prosecute over the\u00a0<i>objections\u00a0<\/i>of career prosecutors.<\/p>\n<p><b>James Comey Joins HSBC\u2019s Board of Directors:\u00a0<\/b>Less than two months after the 2012 deferred prosecution agreement,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hsbc.com\/news-and-insight\/media-resources\/media-releases\/2013\/former-us-deputy-attorney-general-joins-hsbc-board\">HSBC appointed James Comey to its Board of Directors<\/a>\u00a0as head of the Financial System Vulnerabilities Committee.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"thb-pin-it-container aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2914 thb-pinned lazyautosizes lazyloaded\" src=\"https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/comeyhsbc.jpg?w=545&amp;h=460\" sizes=\"auto, 545px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/comeyhsbc.jpg?w=545&amp;h=460 545w, https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/comeyhsbc.jpg?w=150&amp;h=127 150w, https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/comeyhsbc.jpg?w=300&amp;h=253 300w, https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/comeyhsbc.jpg?w=768&amp;h=649 768w, https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/comeyhsbc.jpg 855w\" alt=\"ComeyHSBC\" width=\"545\" height=\"460\" data-src=\"https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/comeyhsbc.jpg?w=545&amp;h=460\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/comeyhsbc.jpg?w=545&amp;h=460 545w, https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/comeyhsbc.jpg?w=150&amp;h=127 150w, https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/comeyhsbc.jpg?w=300&amp;h=253 300w, https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/comeyhsbc.jpg?w=768&amp;h=649 768w, https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/comeyhsbc.jpg 855w\" data-attachment-id=\"2914\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/fighting15th.com\/2017\/08\/03\/robert-mueller-dirty-cop\/comeyhsbc\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/comeyhsbc.jpg?w=545&amp;h=460\" data-orig-size=\"855,722\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Jeffrey Marty&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1501603060&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"ComeyHSBC\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/comeyhsbc.jpg?w=545&amp;h=460?w=300\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/comeyhsbc.jpg?w=545&amp;h=460?w=855\" \/><i class=\"fa fa-pinterest\"><\/i><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fbcoverup.com\/docs\/library\/2013-06-19-Comey-James-B-OGE-Form-278-New-Entrant-Financial-Disclosure-Year-2012-submitted-06-19-2013-Office-of-Government-Ethics-Jun-19-2013.pdf\">When he joined HSBC<\/a>, Comey left a job working as general counsel for Bridgewater Associates hedge fund, where he earned over $6.6 million per year, for a position at a disgraced criminal bank\u2014one recently charged with laundering El Chapo\u2019s money\u2014that paid under $200,000 per year (approximately\u00a0<i>three percent<\/i>\u00a0of his salary at Bridgewater). It\u2019s hard to say why anyone would take that job, and that pay cut, unless there was some additional incentive.<\/p>\n<p>While Comey may have provided HSBC with a Norman Rockwell-type face for its money laundering reform program, it doesn\u2019t appear that Comey actually reformed any of the bank\u2019s practices. During the time Comey was on the Board,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2017\/mar\/20\/british-banks-handled-vast-sums-of-laundered-russian-money\">HSBC was involved in laundering hundreds of millions of dollars from Russia<\/a>\u00a0into the British banking system\u2014a scheme with\u00a0<i>direct ties<\/i>\u00a0to the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin. Apparently Comey missed this activity while he led the search for \u201cvulnerabilities\u201d in HSBC\u2019s \u201cfinancial system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Comey left HSBC in July 2013 to become\u00a0<i>FBI Director<\/i>\u00a0when Mueller stepped down.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"thb-pin-it-container aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2924 thb-pinned lazyautosizes lazyloaded\" src=\"https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/gty_robert_mueller_james_comey_barack_obama_ll_130621_wblog-e1501793540131.jpg?w=531&amp;h=299\" sizes=\"auto, 531px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/gty_robert_mueller_james_comey_barack_obama_ll_130621_wblog-e1501793540131.jpg 478w, https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/gty_robert_mueller_james_comey_barack_obama_ll_130621_wblog-e1501793540131.jpg?w=150&amp;h=84 150w, https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/gty_robert_mueller_james_comey_barack_obama_ll_130621_wblog-e1501793540131.jpg?w=300&amp;h=169 300w\" alt=\"gty_robert_mueller_james_comey_barack_obama_ll_130621_wblog\" width=\"531\" height=\"299\" data-src=\"https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/gty_robert_mueller_james_comey_barack_obama_ll_130621_wblog-e1501793540131.jpg?w=531&amp;h=299\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/gty_robert_mueller_james_comey_barack_obama_ll_130621_wblog-e1501793540131.jpg 478w, https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/gty_robert_mueller_james_comey_barack_obama_ll_130621_wblog-e1501793540131.jpg?w=150&amp;h=84 150w, https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/gty_robert_mueller_james_comey_barack_obama_ll_130621_wblog-e1501793540131.jpg?w=300&amp;h=169 300w\" data-attachment-id=\"2924\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/fighting15th.com\/2017\/08\/03\/robert-mueller-dirty-cop\/gty_robert_mueller_james_comey_barack_obama_ll_130621_wblog\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/gty_robert_mueller_james_comey_barack_obama_ll_130621_wblog-e1501793540131.jpg?w=531&amp;h=299\" data-orig-size=\"478,269\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"gty_robert_mueller_james_comey_barack_obama_ll_130621_wblog\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/gty_robert_mueller_james_comey_barack_obama_ll_130621_wblog-e1501793540131.jpg?w=531&amp;h=299?w=300\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/jeffmarty.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/gty_robert_mueller_james_comey_barack_obama_ll_130621_wblog-e1501793540131.jpg?w=531&amp;h=299?w=478\" \/><i class=\"fa fa-pinterest\"><\/i><\/figure>\n<p><b>Mueller Became Partner At The Law Firm That Represented HSBC:\u00a0<\/b>In its\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilmerhale.com\/pages\/publicationsandnewsdetail.aspx?NewsPubId=10737420249\">2012 Year In Review<\/a>, law firm Wilmer Hale indicated the following: \u201cour regulatory, transactional, securities and investigations experience converged in our representation of HSBC in connection with Department of Justice and Senate inquiries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Less than one year after leaving the FBI, the \u201cutterly incorruptible\u201d Mueller took a lucrative position as a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilmerhale.com\/pages\/publicationsandnewsdetail.aspx?NewsPubId=17179871803\">partner at the same law firm<\/a>\u00a0that represented HSBC in 2012, working in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilmerhale.com\/pages\/publicationsandnewsdetail.aspx?NewsPubId=17179879929\">\u201cgovernment investigations practice\u201d<\/a>\u00a0section of the firm. Although it\u2019s unknown whether Mueller ever handled HSBC\u2019s matters personally, Wilmer Hale still\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilmerhale.com\/about\/representativeclients\/\">includes HSBC<\/a>\u00a0in its list of \u201crepresentative clients.\u201d In 2016 alone,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jdjournal.com\/2016\/06\/17\/2016-law-firm-salary-chart-firms-announcing-raises\/\">profits per partner<\/a>\u00a0at Wilmer Hale were $1.81 million.<\/p>\n<p>In May 2017, Mueller\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationallawjournal.com\/id=1202786545859\/Mueller-Leaves-Wilmer-Steps-In-to-Head-Russia-Probe\">left the firm to become Special Counsel<\/a>\u00a0for the Russia investigation.<\/p>\n<p><b>Subsequent Inaction:\u00a0<\/b>In 2014, President Obama appointed Loretta Lynch to replace Holder as Attorney General.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/news\/will-hsbc-deal-come-back-to-haunt-loretta-lynch-20150209\">Despite criticism of her role in the HSBC case<\/a>, the Senate voted to confirm Lynch to the post in 2015. A few weeks before she was sworn in, her own office suggested that HSBC had\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/2015\/04\/lynch-suggests-hsbc-still-laundering-for-drugs-terror\/\">not complied with the 2012 deferred prosecution agreement<\/a>. What did AG Lynch do to hold HSBC \u201caccountable\u201d once she took over? Nothing. By 2016, even Rep.\u00a0<i>Maxine Waters<\/i>\u00a0(D-CA) was\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/entry\/banking-loretta-lynch-maxine-waters_us_57894186e4b0867123e1450a\">critical of Lynch\u2019s inaction<\/a>against HSBC\u2014it was\u00a0<i>that\u00a0<\/i>bad<i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Russia, Russia, Russia:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>If Mueller failed to do anything to stop these obviously corrupt and criminal practices during his own 12-year term as FBI Director, it\u2019s hard to believe that he will conduct a fair and impartial investigation into the politically-charged assumption of \u201cRussian interference\u201d in the 2016 presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>Mueller isn\u2019t the one to investigate the swamp\u2014Mueller\u00a0<i>is\u00a0<\/i>the swamp. He is a dirty cop who never should have been appointed Special Counsel, and he should be fired immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014\u00a0by\u00a0<span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/fighting15th.com\/author\/jeffmarty\/\">Jeffrey Marty<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/truepundit.com\/robert-mueller-dirty-cop-mainstream-media-darling\/\">https:\/\/truepundit.com\/robert-mueller-dirty-cop-mainstream-media-darling\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Robert Mueller: Dirty Cop &amp; Mainstream Media Darling<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109439\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}