FULL TEXT: Criminal Referral of Hillary Clinton, Loretta Lynch, James Comey and Others by Congress

Sara Carter breaks today's big #Obamagate news: 11 members of Congress have made criminal referrals to the Department of Justice on Hillary Clinton, Loretta Lynch, James Comey, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee member Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Florida, along with ten other colleagues sent the letter Wednesday to Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray [making the criminal referrals]...

...“We write to refer the following individuals for investigation of potential violation(s) of federal statutes,” states the letter obtained by this reporter. “In doing so, we are especially mindful of the dissimilar degrees of zealousness that has marked the investigations into Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, respectively. Because we believe that those in positions of high authority should be treated the same as every other American, we want to be sure that the potential violations of law outlined below are vetted appropriately...”

...Lynch was referred after concerns were made regarding her decision to threaten with reprisal the former FBI informant, William Douglas Campbell, who first came forward in 2016 with insight into the sale of the Canadian firm Uranium One, which controlled nearly 20 percent of uranium mining interests in the United States, as previously reported...

...As for Strzok and Page, the two FBI employees at the center of the Congressional investigations, the lawmakers seek the criminal referral based on the pairs “interference in the Hillary Clinton investigation regarding her use of a personal email server,” as reported.

The full text of the Congressional referral letter reads as follows:

The Honorable Jeff Sessions 
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 
Washington, DC 20530

The Honorable Christopher Wray 
Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation 
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 
Washington, DC 20535

The Honorable John Huber
United States Attorney for the District of Utah
The United States Attorney's Office — District of Utah 
111 South Main Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84111

Dear Attorney General Sessions, Director Wray, and Mr. Huber:

     We write to refer the following individuals for investigation of potential 
violation(s) of federal statutes. In doing so, we are especially mindful of the dissimilar 
degrees of zealousness that has marked the investigations into Former Secretary of State 
Hillary Clinton and the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, respectively. Because 
we believe that those in positions of high authority should be treated the same as every 
other American, we want to be sure that the potential violations of law outlined below are 
vetted appropriately.
     
1. Former FBI Director James Comey.
On July 5, 2016, Comey made a statement on the investigation of Secretary 
Hillary Clinton's use of a personal e-mail system, during which he stated: "...there is 
evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly 
classified information."1 He went on to say: "Although there is evidence of potential 
violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is
that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case."2 Incredibly, this judgment 
appears to have been made prior to interviewing Secretary Clinton and as many as 17 key 
witnesses including Clinton's closest aides.3 Comey's decision to not seek charges 
against Clinton's misconduct suggests improper investigative conduct, potentially 
motivated by a political agenda. Accordingly, we refer James Carney to DOJ for 
potential violation(s) of: 18 USC 1505 and 1515b.

    In addition to his handling of the Clinton investigation, Comey engaged in 
questionable conduct vis-à-vis President Donald Trump. As reported by The New York 
Times, Director Comey wrote memoranda detailing alleged conversations between 
himself and President Trump, creating "a paper trail" for "documenting what he 
perceived as the president's improper efforts to influence a continuing investigation."4 
The article reports that Comey "created similar memos — including some that are 
classified — about every phone call and meeting he had with the president."

    As detailed in a January 3, 2018, letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod 
Rosenstein from the Hon. Charles E. Grassley (Chairman of the Senate Committee on the 
Judiciary), committee staff reviewed the memoranda created by former Director Comey 
in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility due to the classified nature of the 
majority of the memos; of the seven memos, four were marked classified at the 
"SECRET" or "CONFIDENTIAL" levels.5

    At a June 8, 2017, U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing, Comey 
stated: "I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with the reporter."6 
Chairman Grassley's aforementioned letter further notes that Professor Daniel Richman 
of Columbia Law School was the friend and that Mr. Comey provided him with four of 
the seven memoranda, encouraging him to detail the memos to the press.

    In light of the fact that four of the seven memos were classified, it would appear 
that former Director Comey leaked classified information when sharing these memos 
with Professor Richman. Accordingly, we refer James Comey to DOJ for potential 
violation(s) of: 18 USC 641, 18 USC 793, and 18 USC 1924(a).

    Furthermore, President Trump has raised concerns with former Director Comey 
misleading Congress under oath on his decision not to charge former Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton regarding her use of a private email server for official government 
communications.

    As reported by The Washington Post, on May 2, 2017, Comey circulated a draft 
statement on his decision: "Comey sends an email to Andrew McCabe, his deputy, James 
A. Baker, the FBI general counsel, and James Rybicki, his chief of staff, with a subject 
heading of 'Midyear Exam.' This was internal FBI code for the Clinton investigation.
The body of the email was redacted by the FBI, but it appears to have contained a draft of 
his statement on the conclusion of the Clinton case. At that point, 17 interviews with 
potential witnesses had not taken place, including with Clinton and her chief of
staff, according to the Senate Judiciary Committee."7

    Furthermore, on September 28, 2016, during a hearing before the House Judiciary 
Committee, former Director Comey replied "After," following Rep. John Ratcliffe (TX- 
04)'s question on the timing of Comey's decision: "Director, did you make the decision 
not to recommend criminal charges relating to classified information before or after 
Hillary Clinton was interviewed by the FBI on July the 2?"8

    Finally, in an April 28, 2017, letter to former Director Comey, Chairman Grassley 
stated that there "appear to be material inconsistencies between the description of the 
FBI's relationship with Mr. Steele that you [then FBI Director Comey] did provide in 
your briefing and information contained in Justice Department documents made available 
to the Committee only after the briefing."9

    Accordingly, we refer James Carney to DOJ for potential violation(s) of: 18 USC 
1621 and 18 USC 1001.
    
2. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
A lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National 
Committee paid Washington firm Fusion GPS to conduct research that led to the Steele 
dossier, according to an October 24, 2017, report in The Washington Post

       Accordingly, for disguising payments to Fusion GPS on mandatory disclosures to 
the Federal Election Commission, we refer Hillary Clinton to DOJ for potential 
violation(s) of: 52 USC 30121 and 52 USC 30101.
       
3. Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
With regard to Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, we raise concerns 
regarding her decision to threaten with reprisal the former FBI informant who tried to 
come forward in 2016 with insight into the Uranium One deal.''

       Accordingly, we refer Loretta Lynch to DOJ for potential violation(s) of: 18 USC 
1505 and 1515b.
       
4. Former Acting Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe.
With regard to Former Acting Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe, as reported 
by The New York Times, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said that, during the internal 
Hillary Clinton investigation, Mr. McCabe "lacked candor including under oath — on 
multiple occasions." 12 The report went on to say, "That is a fireable offense, and Mr. 
Sessions said that career, apolitical employees at the F.B.I. and Justice Department 
agreed that Mr. McCabe should be fired."I3

       Furthermore, the DOJ Office of the Inspector General recently released a 
February 2018 misconduct report titled "A Report of Investigation of Certain Allegations 
Relating to Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe," confirming four instances of 
McCabe's lack of candor, including three instances under oath, as well as the conclusion 
that McCabe's decision to confirm the existence of the Clinton Foundation Investigation 
through an anonymously sourced quote violated the FBI's and DOJ's media policy and 
constituted misconduct.I4

       Accordingly, we refer Andrew McCabe for potential violation(s) of: 18 USC 
1001, 18 USC 1621, and 18 USC 1505.
       
5. FBI Agent Peter Strzok and FBI Counsel Lisa Page.
With regard to top counterintelligence FBI agent, Peter Strzok, and senior FBI 
lawyer Lisa Page, we raise concerns regarding their interference in the Hillary Clinton 
investigation regarding her use of a personal email server.

    As The Wall Street Journal reported on January 22, 2018, following the Justice 
Department's second release of text exchanges between Strzok and Page, "the latest texts 
show the FBI also eliminated evidence that Mrs. Clinton compromised high-level 
communications."15 The report provides the following alarming specifics, among others: 
"Mr. Strzok texts Ms. Page to tell her that, in fact, senior officials had decided to water 
down the reference to President Obama to 'another senior government official.' By the 
time Mr. Carney gave his public statement on July 5, both references—to Mr. Obama and 
to 'another senior government official'—had disappeared."16

    Accordingly, we refer Peter Strzok and Lisa Page for potential violation(s) of: 18 
USC 1505 and 1515b.

    6. Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI personnel connected to the 
      compilation of documents on alleged links between Russia and then- 
      presidential candidate Donald Trump known as the "Steele dossier," 
      including but not limited to Former FBI Director James Comey, Former 
      Acting Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe, Former Acting Attorney 
      General Sally Yates, and former Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana 
      Boente.17

    With regard to the Steele dossier, we raise concerns regarding the presentation of 
false and/or unverified information to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in 
connection with the former Trump aide Carter Page warrant application to conduct 
surveillance through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

    As Rep Devin Nunes, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, states in a 
March 1, 2018, letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions: "Former and current DOJ and 
FBI leadership have confirmed to the Committee that unverified information from the
Steele dossier comprised an essential part of the FISA applications related to Carter 
page...

    Accordingly, we refer to DOJ all DOJ and FBI personnel responsible for signing 
the Carter Page wan-ant application that contained unverified and/or false information for 
possible violation(s) of: 18 USC 242 and 18 USC 1505 and 1515b.

      Thank you for your attention to these matters.

   [Signed, 11 Members of Congress]

1 "Statement by FBI Director James B. Carney on the Investigation of Secretary Hillary Clinton's Use of a 
Personal E-Mail System." FBI National Press Office, July 5, 2016, 
' Id.
4 Michael S. Schmidt, "Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation." The New York 
Times, May 16, 2017
5 Letter from Sen Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, to Hon. Rod 
Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General, DOJ, January 3, 2018,
6 U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, "Open Hearing with Former FBI Director James Comey." 
June 8, 2017
7 Glenn Kessler and Meg Kelly, "Timeline: James Comey's decision-making on the Clinton probe." The 
Washington Post, October 20, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.cominews/fact- 
checker/wp/2017/10/20/timeline-jatnes-comeys-decision-making-on-the-clinton-
probe/?utm term=fde08bf44528. 
8 U. S . House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Hearing, "Oversight of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation." September 28, 2016, https://judiciary.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/091114-
91 22125.pdf. 
9 Letter from Sen Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, to Hon. James 
Carney, Director, FBI, April 28, 2018
1° Adam Entous, Devin Barrett, Rosalind S. Helderman, "Clinton campaign, DNC paid for research that led 
to Russia dossier." The Washington Post, October 24, 2017, 
11 "House also probing Obama-era Uranium One deal." Fox News, October 22, 2017
12 Matt Apuzzo, "Andrew McCabe's Firing: Here's What We Know." The New York Times, March 19, 
2018
14 U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General Oversight & Review Division, "A Report of 
Investigation of Certain Allegations Relating to Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe." February 
2018
15 The Editorial Board, "The FBI's Missing Texts." The Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2018
16 Ibid.
17 Due to the possible involvement of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in signing an application 
for continued surveillance on Carter Page, Rosenstein should be recused from any examination of FISA 
abuse. Accordingly, neither U.S. Attorney John Huber nor a special counsel (if appointed) should report to 
Rosenstein.
18 Letter from Rep Devin Nunes, Chairman, U.S. House Intelligence Committee to Hon. Jeff Sessions, 
Attorney General, FBI, March 1, 2018

Hat tip: BadBlue Uncensored News.