Judicial Watch: FBI Finds More Docs On Clinton-Lynch Tarmac Meeting; Needs 6 Weeks To Turn Them Over

Back on June 29, 2016, Obama"s Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, tried to convince us that the following "impromptu" meeting between herself and Bill Clinton at the Phoenix airport, a private meeting which lasted 30 minutes on Lynch"s private plane, was mostly a "social meeting" in which Bill talked about his grandchildren and golf game.  It was not, under any circumstances, related to the statement that former FBI Director James Comey made just 6 days later clearing Hillary Clinton of any alleged crimes related to his agency"s investigation.

Not surprisingly, following the above media clip several concerned watchdog groups filed FOIA requests seeking any and all DOJ and/or FBI documents related to what was either (i) a really poorly timed meeting, in the best case, or (ii) a clear attempt by a former President of the United States to apply leverage over the current Attorney General to obstruct justice and get his wife elected President, in the worst case. 

Now, after originally being told by the FBI there were no documents to produce in response to their July 2016 FOIA request, Judicial Watch is now reported that nearly a year and a half later they"ve suddenly found some documents that may be relevant.  Meanwhile, as if that isn"t bad enough, the FBI apparently needs 6 weeks to produce a measly 30 pages worth of records.  Here"s more from Judicial Watch:

Judicial Watch was informed yesterday by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that the FBI has located 30 pages of documents related to the June 27, 2016, tarmac meeting between former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton, and proposes non-exempt material be produced no later than November 30, 2017 (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:16-cv-02046)).

The new documents are being sent to Judicial Watch in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed after the Justice Department failed to comply with a July 7, 2016, FOIA request seeking the following:

• All FD-302 forms prepared pursuant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server during her tenure.


• All records of communications between any agent, employee, or representative of the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding, concerning, or related to the aforementioned investigation. This request includes, but is not limited to, any related communications with any official, employee, or representative of the Department of Justice, the Executive Office of the President, the Democratic National Committee, and/or the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.


• All records related to the meeting between Attorney General Lynch and former President Bill Clinton on June 27, 2016.

Expressing the frustration that this revelation likely invokes for many Americans, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton described the FBI as "out of control" and said it"s "stunning that the FBI ‘found’ these Clinton-Lynch tarmac records only after we caught the agency hiding them in another lawsuit."

“The FBI is out of control. It is stunning that the FBI ‘found’ these Clinton-Lynch tarmac records only after we caught the agency hiding them in another lawsuit,” stated Judicial Watch Tom Fitton. “Judicial Watch will continue to press for answers about the FBI’s document games in court. In the meantime, the FBI should stop the stonewall and release these new records immediately.”

This case has also forced the FBI to release to the public the FBI’s Clinton investigative file, although more than half of the records remain withheld.  The FBI has also told Judicial Watch that it anticipates completing the processing of these materials by July 2018.

There is significant controversy about whether the FBI and Obama Justice Department investigation gave Clinton and other witnesses and potential targets preferential treatment.

Can you imagine the outrage in Congress and at CNN if similar records were suddenly "found" at the FBI that proved Trump colluded with Putin to throw the 2016 election?

Dear FBI, here"s an alternative to waiting around 6 weeks to produce 30 pages that will undoubtedly have all relevant information redacted...why not just do us all a favor, dispel with the notion that their is any transparency in Washington D.C., fully redact all 30 pages and hand them over to Judicial Watch now so that we can all be appalled for moment and move on with our lives?

Who Will Replace Comey: Here Are Seven Possible Names

While Democrats are demanding a non-political appointee (like asking for a virgin in a whorehouse), speculation has already begun over who will replace Comey as FBI Director...

As Axios reports, here are a few possible replacements...

Rudy Giuliani

The former New York mayor and U.S. attorney is reportedly on Trump"s shortlist to replace Comey. A source close to Trump confirmed to NY Mag"s Olivia Nuzzi that Giuliani is being considered for FBI director. However, before that tip, Giuliani told Nuzzi and The Atlantic"s Rosie Gray: "I am not. I"m not a candidate for FBI director. The president"s not gonna ask me, and I"m not gonna be FBI director."

Giuliani was in D.C. last night, having drinks at Trump International Hotel. When asked if he"ll be meeting with the president today, he said, "If I am, I wouldn"t say."

Chris Christie

The New Jersey governor is not without controversies of his own, but he was one of the first Republicans to endorse Trump in 2016. Earlier this year, Trump appointed Christie to lead his opioid and drug abuse commission.

Andrew McCabe

McCabe is currently serving as the acting FBI director in Comey"s absence. He has been Comey"s deputy since Feb. 2016 and has worked on various issues like interrogation, counterterrorism, and national security. His biggest setback: His close ties to Comey and his participation in the Russia investigation and Clinton email investigation, which was cited as the reason for Comey"s termination.

Mike Rogers

He"s a former FBI agent and the former Republican House Intelligence Committee chairman. Before Comey"s confirmation in 2013, Rogers was the FBI Agents Association"s top recommendation to serve as FBI director. His name could resurface in discussions about Comey"s replacement.

Ken Wainstein

Another favorite was Wainstein, who"s got a lot of credentials:

• Former head of the Justice Department"s National Security Division


• Former general counsel of the FBI


• Once served as the chief federal prosecutor in D.C. when he served in the Justice Department


• Also served as the director of the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys


• Served as former FBI director Robert Mueller"s chief of staff


• During the May 6 Senate hearing on the Russia investigation, he acted as counsel to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

Ray Kelly

Another New Yorker, he"s the former commissioner of the NYPD and he was considered for the FBI Director role under Bill Clinton in 1993. Although he didn"t get the job, Kelly was selected as Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at Treasury and commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service for the Clinton administration.

Trey Gowdy

The South Carolina Republican served on the Trump transition team"s executive committee. One thing Trump will surely find appealing: Gowdy led House committee investigation of Clinton"s actions surrounding the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi when she was Secretary of State. He openly criticized Comey for his decision not to prosecute Clinton over the emails.

*  *  *

Meanwhile, as The Hil reports, potential candidates to serve as interim FBI director are reportedly being interviewed Wednesday by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. CNN reported Wednesday that Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe is one of those being interviewed, according to a Justice Department official, following the shocking firing of James Comey on Tuesday evening. McCabe is currently serving as acting FBI director.

 According to a White House Official, there are four candidates for interim head of the FBI...

• ACTING DIRECTOR ANDREW MCCABE,


• ASSISTANT DIRECTOR PAUL ABBATE,


• CHICAGO AGENT MICHAEL J. ANDERSON,


• RICHMOND VA AGENT ADAM LEE

An announcement about who will serve as interim FBI director is expected to come later Wednesday or Thursday.

Trump Deploys Dozens Of Judges To Battle Massive Backlog Of Deportation Cases

In response to the "paralysis" facing immigration courts, dealing with over 500,000 pending cases, President Trump is deploying 50 judges to immigration detention facilities across the United States, according to two sources and a letter seen by Reuters.

As the Associated Press points out, there are 58 immigration courts in 27 states around the country with a total of 301 judges.  The problem, of course, is that those 301 judges already face a mountain of 534,000 pending immigration cases which is likely to balloon even higher under Trump"s administration.

Of 374 authorized immigration judge positions, 301 are filled. Fifty more candidates are in various stages of the hiring process, which typically takes about a year, said Kathryn Mattingly, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office for Immigration Review.

In all, more than 534,000 cases were pending before immigration courts nationwide in February, according to a recent memo from Kelly.

The massive backlog means that processing errors are a common occurrence and ultimately just result in illegal immigrants getting a free pass to reside in the country even longer, which is unacceptable to President Trump, and as Reuters reports the Department of Justice is also considering asking judges to sit from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., split between two rotating shifts, to adjudicate more cases, the sources said. A notice about shift times was not included in the letter.

Two sources familiar with the Justice Department"s plan said the department would ask more judges to volunteer for one or two month deployments at detention centers. If the department cannot find enough volunteers, the department would assign judges to detention centers, the sources said. Judges who volunteer for the first 50 deployments would be sent to detention centers in Adelanto, California; San Diego, Chicago and elsewhere, according to the letter.

Judges are employed by the Justice Department to oversee cases that determine if immigrants are given protections, such as asylum, or ordered deported. A handful of judges work from detention centers but most work from courts around the country.

Of course, as we noted previously, one way to relieve the court burden is to simply increase deportations without using the court system at all, a strategy that has the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants" Rights Project, and the 1,000s of immigration lawyers that earn a living filing appeal after appeal, up in arms.

Advocates worry the Trump administration will increase the use of procedures that allow authorities to deport people without using the court system at all.

"Instead of actually trying to make the courts better, they just want to use them less, even though that obviously is deeply problematic from a due-process standpoint," said Omar Jadwat, director of the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants" Rights Project.

Mehlman agrees the system is broken, but said advocacy groups and lawyers who keep filing new motions and appeals are part of the problem.

"They understand that time works to their benefit and that the longer you can drag this out, the more bites at the apple you can get, the greater the likelihood that you can find some plausible reason for remaining here in the United States," he said.

The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.