ZeroHedge.com<\/p>\n
Roughly a month ago,\u00a0we noted<\/a>\u00a0that Republicans might be well served to stop sitting around twiddling their thumbs waiting for the next Russia ‘bombshell’ to drop and actually go on the offensive against an ‘investigation’ that has obviously morphed into mass hysteria courtesy of free-flowing leaks from a conflicted “intelligence community” intent upon bringing down a presidency rather than finding out the truth.\u00a0 Here’s what we said:<\/p>\n Of course,\u00a0until someone within the Trump administration or Republican Party smartens up and calls for the appointment of a ‘Special Counsel’ to look into Hillary’s email scandal, something that should have been done long ago, and not for retaliatory reasons but simply due to Comey’s and AG Lynch’s blatant mishandling of the investigation<\/strong>\u00a0(a point which Deputy AG Rosenstein obviously agreed with), the Democrats have no reason to calm their mass hysteria.\u00a0\u00a0T<\/strong>hen, and only then, do we suspect that Hillary might just be able to ‘convince’ her party to exercise some form of reasonable judgement.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Well, it seems that some folks on the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), seem to agree.\u00a0 As such,\u00a020 Republican Representatives have sent a letter to Attorney General Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein demanding the appointment of a Second Special Counsel\u00a0<\/strong>to look into a laundry list of potential scandals surrounding Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Loretta Lynch and many others from the Obama administration.<\/p>\n We are writing to you to request assistance in restoring public confidence in our nation\u2019s justice system<\/strong>\u00a0and its investigators, specifically the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). While we presume that the FBI\u2019s investigation into Russian influence has been subsumed into Special Counsel Robert Mueller\u2019s investigation, we are not confident that other matters related to the 2016 election and aftermath are similarly under investigation by Special Counsel Mueller.\u00a0The unbalanced, uncertain, and seemingly unlimited focus of the special counsel\u2019s investigation has led many of our constituents to see a dual standard of justice that benefits only the powerful and politically well-connected.\u00a0<\/strong>For this reason,\u00a0we call on you to appoint a second special counsel to investigate a plethora of matters connected to the 2016 election and its aftermath, including actions taken by previously public figures like Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Director James Comey, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.<\/strong><\/p>\n Many Democrats and members of the Washington media previously called for a \u201cspecial prosecutor\u201d to investigate Russian influence on the election and connections with the Trump campaign. Not surprisingly, once you actually made the decision to appoint a special counsel, the calls for further investigations by congressional committees continued,\u00a0focused on allegations that have heretofore produced no evidence of criminality, despite the fact that over a year has passed since the opening of the original FBI investigation.<\/strong>\u00a0Political gamesmanship continues to saturate anything and everything associated with reactions to President Trump\u2019s executive decisions, and reveals the hypocrisy of those who refuse to allow the Special Counsel\u2019s investigation to proceed without undue political influence. It is an unfortunate state of affairs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Among other things, the letter specifically highlights the\u00a0inappropriate handling of the Clinton investigation by James Comey and efforts on the part of Loretta Lynch to obstruct justice in order to assist a political ally.<\/strong><\/p>\n Your stated rationale for recommending Director Comey\u2019s termination as FBI Director was his mishandling of former Secretary Clinton\u2019s email investigation and associated public disclosures concerning the investigation\u2019s findings. We believe this was the correct decision.\u00a0It is clear that Director Comey contributed to the politicization of the FBI\u2019s investigations by issuing his public statement, nominating himself as judge and jury, rather than permitting career DOJ prosecutors to make the final decision.<\/strong>\u00a0But many other questions remain unanswered, due to Mr. Comey\u2019s premature and inappropriate decision, as well as the Obama Justice Department\u2019s refusal to respond to legitimate Congressional oversight. Last week, the Republican Members of this Committee sent a letter to the Justice Department, asking for responses to those unanswered inquiries. These questions cannot, for history\u2019s sake and for the preservation of an impartial system of justice, be allowed to die on the vine.<\/p>\n As we referenced above, Democrats and the mainstream media called for a special counsel to be appointed to investigate any Russian influence on President Trump\u2019s campaign. Their pleas were answered, but there are many questions that may be outside the scope of Special Counsel Mueller\u2019s investigation.\u00a0This was clear following Mr. Comey\u2019s recent testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8, 2017, which ignited renewed scrutiny of former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and the actions she took to mislead the public concerning the investigation into the Clinton email investigation.<\/strong>\u00a0Last year, this Committee inquired repeatedly about the circumstances surrounding that and other matters, but our inquiries were largely ignored.<\/p>\n During his testimony,\u00a0Mr. Comey referenced a meeting on the Phoenix airport tarmac between Ms. Lynch and former President Bill Clinton.\u00a0<\/strong>Mr. Comey raised concerns about Ms. Lynch\u2019s conduct, and questioned her independence, stating:<\/p>\n At one point, the\u00a0attorney general had directed me not to call it an investigation, but instead to call it a matter, which confused me and concerned me.<\/strong>\u00a0That was one of the bricks in the load that led me to conclude, \u2018I have to step away from the department if we\u2019re to close this case credibly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And here is the full list of things the “Second Special Counsel” would be instructed to investigate:<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0 The shadow cast over our system of justice concerning Secretary\u00a0Clinton and her involvement in mishandling classified information<\/strong>;<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0 FBI and DOJ\u2019s investigative decisions related to former Secretary Clinton\u2019s email investigation, including the\u00a0propriety and consequence of immunity deals given to potential Clinton co-conspirators Cheryl Mills, Heather Samuelson, John Bentel and possibly others;<\/strong><\/p>\n 4.\u00a0 The apparent\u00a0failure of DOJ to empanel a grand jury<\/strong>\u00a0to investigate allegations of mishandling of classified information by Hillary Clinton and her associates;<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0 The Department of State and its employees\u2019 involvement in determining which communications of Secretary Clinton\u2019s and her associates to turn over for public scrutiny;<\/p>\n 6.\u00a0 WikiLeaks disclosures concerning the\u00a0Clinton Foundation and its potentially unlawful international dealings;<\/strong><\/p>\n 7.\u00a0\u00a0Connections between the Clinton campaign<\/strong>, or the Clinton Foundation, and foreign entities, including those from\u00a0Russia and Ukraine<\/strong>;<\/p>\n 8.\u00a0 Mr. Comey\u2019s knowledge of the\u00a0purchase of Uranium One<\/strong>\u00a0by the company Rosatom, whether the approval of the sale was\u00a0connected to any donations made to the Clinton Foundation<\/strong>, and what role Secretary Clinton played in the approval of that sale that had national security ramifications;<\/p>\n 9.\u00a0 Disclosures arising from unlawful access to the Democratic National Committee\u2019s (DNC) computer systems, including inappropriate collusion between the DNC and the Clinton campaign to undermine Senator Bernie Sanders\u2019 presidential campaign;<\/p>\n 10.\u00a0\u00a0Post-election accusations by the President that he was wiretapped by the previous Administration,<\/strong>\u00a0and whether Mr. Comey and Ms. Lynch had any knowledge of efforts made by any federal agency to unlawfully monitor communications of then-candidate Trump or his associates;<\/p>\n 11.\u00a0\u00a0Selected leaks of classified information related to the unmasking of U.S. person identities<\/strong>\u00a0incidentally collected upon by the intelligence community, including an assessment of whether anyone in the Obama Administration, including Mr. Comey, Ms. Lynch, Ms. Susan Rice, Ms. Samantha Power, or others, had any knowledge about the \u201cunmasking\u201d of individuals on then candidate-Trump\u2019s campaign team, transition team, or both;<\/p>\n 12.\u00a0\u00a0Admitted leaks by Mr. Comey to Columbia University law professor, Daniel Richman,\u00a0<\/strong>regarding conversations between Mr. Comey and President Trump, how the leaked information was purposefully released to lead to the appointment of a special counsel, and whether any classified information was included in the now infamous \u201cComey memos\u201d;<\/p>\n 13.\u00a0\u00a0Mr. Comey\u2019s and the FBI\u2019s apparent reliance on \u201cFusion GPS\u201d in its investigation of the Trump campaign,<\/strong>\u00a0including the company\u2019s creation of a \u201cdossier\u201d of information about Mr. Trump, that dossier\u2019s commission and dissemination in the months before and after the 2016 election, whether the FBI paid anyone connected to the dossier, and the intelligence sources of Fusion GPS or any person or company working for Fusion GPS and its affiliates; and<\/p>\n 14.\u00a0\u00a0Any and all potential leaks originated by Mr. Comey and provide to author Michael Schmidt dating back to 1993.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Seems the gauntlet has officially been thrown down…what say you Mr. Sessions?<\/strong><\/p>\n The full letter can be reviewed\u00a0here<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n\n