THE FBI'S "PRACTICE": IT CHANGED EVERYTHING

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     "Practice."  The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word practice as "to do or perform often, customarily, or habitually."

     In nationally televised testimony before the House Intelligence Committee on Monday, March 20th, 2017, FBI Director James Comey confirmed to Congress and the American people that the FBI has been investigating links between Donald Trump and Russia since July 2016.  

     In his opening statement, Comey revealed the following.  "As you know, our practice is not to confirm the existence of ongoing investigations that involve classified matters, but in unusual circumstances where it is in the public interest, it may be appropriate to do so as Justice Department policies recognize.  This is one of those circumstances.  I have been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 Presidential election and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."

     Please note Comey's words about "interfere(nce) in the 2016 Presidential election" that the FBI is investigating "any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government."  And who was at the very top of the Trump campaign?  Donald Trump.

     Although Comey did not use the word...protocol...in his statement...but instead, "practice"...it is indeed, protocol...which he broke with when he testified before Congress.  So let us all pause for a moment and think...if Comey had dismissed protocol or "practice"...during the summer before the November 8th, 2016 Presidential election...as he has now done...it is not only likely...but very likely...in fact, it is most probable...if not nearly certain...that Hillary Clinton would be President of the United States today.

     Do we give Director Comey the benefit of the doubt that - before the election - it was not his decision to not...spill the beans - for the lack of a better phrase - about an investigation of Trump and his Republican campaign?  Why then do it now with an Attorney General - the ultimate boss of the Department of Justice - in Trump's Republican Presidential Administration?  What...or who...stopped Comey before the election...with an Attorney General who was part of Barack Obama's Democratic Presidential Administration?  Who's fault was it to not give American voters every tool we needed...before entering the polling booths to cast our ballots for President?  We don't know whose decision it was to not provide us that information...and although it may have been James Comey himself, it would be wrong of me to simply point the finger at him, so therefore, I won't.  But for total transparency...we...the American people...have the right to know. 

     I will, however, lay blame on Director Comey for partly causing some voters to abandon Hillary Clinton.  Arguably, the former Secretary of State did not win the electoral vote for two reasons...one - because of Russia meddling in our election... and two - because of Comey's letter to Congress, eleven days before the election. It was in that letter that the FBI chief noted that his Bureau and the Department of Justice were investigating new information which allegedly pertained to the e-mail controversy and Mrs. Clinton.  

     The bottom line is...there was no credible reason for the FBI to resume any such probe in to Secretary Clinton, as Comey basically stated two days before the Presidential election.  But the damage was already done and certain voters - who had been "on the fence" (so to speak) - decided they would cast their ballot for Donald Trump instead of Hillary Clinton...or they would just stay home and not vote at all.  That being said, it was Trump and his campaign team who were under investigation on Election Day...not Secretary Clinton.  It was Trump and his associates who were being probed by the FBI for alleged ties with Vladimir Putin and Russia.

     Again...I recognize protocol...or, if FBI Director Comey prefers the word, "practice."  But what a shame that Comey was apparently not "authorized by the Department of Justice"...to be up front with the American people before the election. Or was it Comey himself...who had decided not to tell voters?  Will we ever know the answer for sure?  I do know this for sure.  If Americans had been provided the full truth back in July, August, September or even October of 2016...I am virtually certain that - on November 8th - Hillary Clinton would have easily been elected the 45th President of the United States.  Instead...people actually voted for Donald Trump...when it is he and some of his staff...who are - to this day - being investigated by federal law enforcement officers for possible criminal activity.  As for Hillary Clinton...she was completely free of any such investigation.

     Before the election, there were some Americans who did not want to vote for Hillary Clinton because Donald Trump and other Republicans were spewing venom off their tongues that Mrs. Clinton may eventually be indicted.  That was something that was never going to happen because Secretary Clinton never committed any illegal wrongdoing, which Comey stated in his testimony before Congress in July of 2016. But now...Trump - as he sits behind The Oval Office desk - could...and I did say could...face indictment...or impeachment...if...and I will once again be repetitive... if...evidence shows that he was in cahoots with Russia...to influence the Presidential election.

     There are allegations that numerous individuals...closely connected to Donald Trump and his campaign...were allegedly involved in some way with Vladimir Putin, Russian diplomats and/or even KGB agents.  One of those Trump cronies who is suspected of allegedly having questionable ties with Russia is Trump's former Campaign Manager Paul Manafort.  So for White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer - in a Press Briefing on Monday, March 20th - to say that Manafort had "played a very limited role for a very limited amount of time"...is blatantly bogus.  Manafort joined the Trump campaign in March 2016...became Campaign Manager in April 2016...and then National Campaign Chairman and Chief Strategist in mid-August 2016...until his so-called "resignation" shortly thereafter.  The fact of the matter is...Manafort had Trump's ear for about six of the last eight months of the campaign...which is certainly not a "limited time" in a "limited role."

     FBI Director Comey articulated to Congress that "(Vladimir) Putin hated Secretary Clinton so much" and Russia "wanted to hurt our democracy."  Comey definitively agreed that Russia wanted to help Donald Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton.  As Comey stated to the House Intelligence Committee, Putin had a "clear preference" for any person running against Mrs. Clinton...and that it was a "fairly easy judgment" to see Putin's preference.  Therefore, knowing that Putin was going to do whatever he could to make sure Donald Trump would be elected - and not Hillary Clinton - Americans deserved to know...before the election...that the FBI was investigating Trump and/or members of his campaign...for possible collusion with Russia...in an effort to affect the outcome of our Presidential election.  Furthermore, there is one question I always ask...as do so many Americans throughout our nation.  Why has Donald Trump never uttered a bad word...not one negative syllable...about Vladimir Putin and Russia?

     Comey has told Congress that there is "no way to give" a timetable for when a U.S. government investigation of Russia and any alleged link to the "Trump For President" campaign will be completed.  In the meantime, however...if evidence is discovered - yes, I did again say if...that Donald Trump supervised...or participated - in even the smallest of ways - with Russia...to mastermind a plot so that he would win the election...the United States will be looking at our first President to be impeached by the House of Representatives...convicted by the Senate...and then removed from office.

     But I don't want my Republican readers to jump down my throat, so I reiterate and re-emphasize words such as "if" and "could."  I am not a Congressman...nor a Senator.  I am not a judge...nor am I currently sitting on a jury.  And no charges against Donald Trump have yet to be filed.  They may never be.  After all...it is possible that he had absolutely nothing to do with Russia and their rigging of our election.  However...let us remember that on November 17th, 1973 - at a nationally televised press conference - Richard Nixon...while our 37th President...seventeen months after the Watergate break-in and nine months before he resigned in disgrace...told the country that he "never obstructed justice."  And then - with those four now-infamous words - emphatically assured Americans..."I'm not a crook." And yet...he was.  I leave you with that thought.

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again."

The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions.  Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.

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