RUSSIA INVESTIGATION - James Clapper

"Russia ‘turned’ election for Trump, Clapper believes" PBS NewsHour 5/23/2018

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SUMMARY:  Russians not only affected the outcome of the 2016 presidential election — they decided it, says James Clapper, who served as the director of national intelligence in the Obama administration, and during the 2016 vote.

“To me, it just exceeds logic and credulity that they didn’t affect the election, and it’s my belief they actually turned it,” he told the PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff on Wednesday.

Clapper, who chronicles his life and career in his new book, “Facts and Fears: Hard Truths From a Life in Intelligence,” said Russians are “are bent on undermining our fundamental system here.  And when a foreign nation, particularly an adversary nation, gets involved as much as they did in our political process, that’s a real danger to this country.”

His comments come amid reports that the FBI used an informant while the bureau investigated possible ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign.

“That would be one of the biggest insults that anyone’s ever seen,” Trump told reporters Tuesday, calling the reports ‘spygate’ on Twitter.  The President demanded an investigation earlier this week into whether the FBI or Department of Justice infiltrated or surveilled his campaign.

Clapper called those accusations “distorted.”  He said there is a “a big gulf between a spy in the traditional sense — employing spycraft or tradecraft — and an informant who is open about … who he was and what the questions he was asking.”

“The important thing was not to spy on the campaign but rather to determine what the Russians were up to.  Were they trying to penetrate to campaign, gain access, gain leverage, gain influence, and that was the concern that the FBI had?  … I think they were just doing their job and trying to protect our political system.”

DOCUMENTING HATE - "Anti-Heterosexual" vs "Anti-Gay" Crimes

"Police Are Mislabeling Anti-LGBTQ and Other Crimes as Anti-Heterosexual" by Rachel Glickhouse and Rahima Nasa, ProPublica 5/15/2018

ProPublica sent public-records requests to more than 50 police departments that reported anti-heterosexual hate crimes to the FBI.  None of the reports we could track down actually included evidence of hate crimes against straight people.

Rob heard a loud knock at his door late one night in August 2014.  His landlord had been calling him about maintenance issues in his Columbus, Ohio, apartment, but that night she came with a male companion and began to scream at him.  According to a police report, the man jumped into the argument and threatened Rob — who asked that we not use his full name — with a homophobic slur.  Fearing an escalation, he called the police.

“A thing that I’ve dealt with my entire life as a gay man is extreme prejudice, from threats to constant harassment,” Rob said, noting that his landlord had previously told his neighbors that he was a “filthy queer.”

Columbus police acknowledged Rob’s concern that the incident may have been motivated by bias, but they got a key detail wrong in their incident report: They mistakenly marked it as a case of anti-heterosexual harassment.

Since 2010, Columbus police have reported six incidents that list bias against heterosexuals as the purported motivation.  That’s more than any other local law enforcement agency in the nation reported during that period.  Columbus Police Department Sgt. Dean Worthington acknowledges it’s likely that the officers who filed the reports marked the wrong box.

“Given the fact that our officers are human, we are prone to make the occasional mistake,” said Worthington.  “I can assure you these mistakes were not intentional.”

Each officer has a supervisor whose duty is to check such reports, but it’s possible the errors still got through, Worthington added.

Those reports made their way from Columbus to Washington, D.C., where they were compiled with thousands of others into what the FBI calls the Uniform Crime Report.  Every year a small number of anti-heterosexual hate crime reports end up in the UCR.  From 2010 to 2016, the FBI reported that local law enforcement agencies noted a total of 142 of them.

ProPublica reviewed dozens of these reports, however, and found few, if any, actual hate crimes targeting people for being heterosexual.

We sent Freedom of Information Act requests to every law enforcement agency that reported a heterosexual bias crime in 2016 — the most recent year for which FBI data was available.  We also sent requests to every agency that had reported two or more such crimes since 2010, as well as to any agency available in an online service used to send public-records requests called Muckrock.

In total, we were able to locate records for 58 cases.

None described hate crimes spurred by anti-heterosexual bias.  As with the case in Columbus, about half were actually anti-gay or anti-bisexual crimes that were miscategorized.  Seven cases appeared to reflect other types of bias, with victims targeted because they were Jewish or black or women.  Some 18 cases don’t seem to have been hate crimes at all, containing no discernible bias element.

The findings reflect a larger problem: Many local law enforcement agencies do a poor job tracking hate crimes.  It’s a problem that can endanger public safety and leave policy makers blind when grappling with the growing problem of hate crimes and bias incidents in America.

Rob says he was discouraged from pressing charges against his landlord due to a lack of witnesses present.  The police filled out an incident report but he decided not to pursue it further, in part because he feared reprisal from his landlord.  When he found out from ProPublica that the police had marked the report wrong, he said it felt like yet another slight.

“It’s just sad to hear because I know she was targeting me for being a gay man,” he said.

As ProPublica reported last year, when asked for hate crimes data, many police departments said they hadn’t investigated any hate incidents, had no records on file, or that their records were poorly kept.  Some police departments don’t mark bias-motivated crimes as such, or officers aren’t sure of how to mark hate crimes within their record systems.

ProPublica found that many of the anti-LGBTQ crimes mismarked as anti-heterosexual were vandalism and involved the use of a common anti-gay slur.  Even Palm Springs, California — which has one of the highest proportion of same-sex couples in the country, according to a census analysis by UCLA’s Williams Institute — misreported an anti-gay hate crime as anti-heterosexual.

In a few cases, victims were straight but were targeted by suspects who believed them to be gay.  Even in cases of mistaken identity, the FBI instructs police to mark the perceived bias of the aggressor — in these cases, as anti-LGBTQ.  In Columbus, Ohio, a straight man was called a “faggot” before he was assaulted.  The report, however, indicated that the attack was motivated by anti-heterosexual bias.  In Gainesville, Florida, a straight woman and her female roommate were targeted, police correctly marked it as an anti-lesbian hate crime on the incident report, but it was reflected in the FBI’s data as an anti-heterosexual incident.  Officials weren’t sure why.

In the FBI’s bias codes system, 44 is the code for an anti-heterosexual crime, while 41 is the code for an anti-gay male hate crime, making such a mistake a matter of a single digit.  Several police departments pointed to drop-down menus and online tracking systems as the reason behind mislabeling.

For example, San Leandro, California, reported three anti-heterosexual hate crimes to the FBI between 2014 and 2016.  Judy Park, the department’s records supervisor, acknowledged that all three were in fact anti-gay hate crimes.  She said the cases had been added to the department’s internal system correctly, but the computer software had extracted the bias code number wrong — showing a 44 (anti-heterosexual) instead of a 41 (anti-gay male) on the incident reports.  Park said she would work with the software vendor to fix the problem and try to correct the mistake with the FBI.  “Thank you for bringing it to our attention, because we never would have known,” she added.

Officials from five other police departments — Tehachapi, California; Evesham and Princeton, New Jersey; Columbus, Ohio; and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville — also said they would work to correct such errors with state or federal agencies.

In some cases, police reports obtained by ProPublica showed no indication of a bias motivation in the description of the crime.

A number of these cases involved thefts, robberies and credit card fraud.  In Benton, Kentucky, a few days before Christmas 2016, a suspect walked out of a Walmart with a shopping cart full of stolen merchandise, including drones, a scooter and a video game controller, according to Benton Police Chief Jeremy Hicks.  He acknowledged the case was mistakenly mislabeled as an anti-heterosexual hate crime.

The erroneous reports suggest that the FBI is undercounting anti-LGBTQ hate crimes, which represent a significant portion of U.S.  bias crimes.  The FBI’s 2016 hate crimes report showed that sexual orientation-based bias crimes were the third most common hate crimes.  The vast majority of those targeted victims for being gay, lesbian or bisexual.  According to a National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs report, 2016 was “the deadliest year on record” for the LGBTQ community.

A statement from the FBI was unavailable at press time.  We will update this story once we receive it.

To be sure, hate crimes against heterosexual people are possible.  Federal law lists “sexual orientation” as a category of hate crimes, and a crime perpetrated against somebody for being straight would be a hate crime under federal law.  But if there have been any of these crimes investigated or charged, it’s tough to find them in public records.

The difficulty of finding bona fide anti-heterosexual bias crimes or incidents is reflected by the lack of tips gathered by ProPublica’s Documenting Hate project.  We’ve collected more than 500 tips from people who say they or someone they know was targeted because of their sexual orientation — but no tips at all from people who say they were targeted based on being heterosexual.

Anti-heterosexual hate crimes are so rare that experts working on hate crimes for years struggled to recall them, citing two cases of straight men getting assaulted at gay bars and a few attacks on religious institutions by gay activists in the 1990s.

ProPublica identified a handful of anti-heterosexual cases that fell into a gray area.

In Canton, Ohio, a yard sign opposing gay marriage was knocked over, damaging the steel posts holding it up.  In Louisburg, North Carolina, signs encouraging people to vote for a state amendment to ban same-sex marriage were stolen multiple times in front of a Baptist church.

Police officials from Stark County, Ohio, and Franklin County, North Carolina, told ProPublica they weren’t sure why the incidents were reported to the FBI as prompted by anti-heterosexual bias.  Experts weren’t sure how to classify these crimes, saying they could potentially reflect political or ideological bias.

Jeannine Bell, a law professor at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law who has studied hate crimes for more than two decades, says poor data collection indicates law enforcement agencies don’t take hate crimes seriously.

“It means that police fundamentally are not investigating hate crimes,” she said.  “Hate crime needs to be more than checking a box.”

JAMES COMEY - Clinton Emails

"On Clinton email revelations, ‘there was no good option’ for FBI, says James Comey" PBS NewsHour 5/1/2018

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SUMMARY:  Facing the storm over Hillary Clinton's email amid the 2016 election, James Comey said he and the FBI "were screwed honestly either way."  The former FBI director and author of “A Higher Loyalty” joins Judy Woodruff for part two of their interview, in which they discuss Loretta Lynch’s encounter with former President Bill Clinton and his decision to announce the reopening of the Clinton probe.

JAMES COMEY - Russia Investigation

"James Comey: FBI had ‘basis for investigating’ possible ties between Trump and Russia" PBS NewsHour 4/30/2018

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SUMMARY:  Former FBI Director James Comey on Monday criticized a House Intelligence Committee report that found no evidence of collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign, saying the FBI had a “basis for investigating” the matter.

“There was a basis for investigating, meaning there were facts to support an investigation” into alleged ties between Russia and members of Trump’s campaign, Comey said in an interview with the PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff.  “To say there was no evidence just wasn’t the case.”

Comey joined a chorus of critics who have slammed the report in recent days.  President Trump touted the finding on Twitter, repeating his frequent claim that the Russia probe was a “total witch hunt.”

In the NewsHour interview, Comey, who is on a media tour to promote his new book, also defended his decision-making surrounding the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server during the 2016 election.

The former FBI chief said he was trying to “do the right thing” when he sent a letter to Congress less than two weeks before the election announcing the bureau had reopened its probe into Clinton’s emails.  Comey said the alternative option — not going public with the FBI’s actions — would have been “catastrophic.”

“We were stuck in the middle of a no-win situation,” Comey said.

Clinton and many Democrats have argued that Comey’s letter to Congress helped Trump win the election.  Comey, who was fired by Trump last May, has insisted he wasn’t taking sides in the race.

AMERICAN POLITICS - The Center of a Storm, Trump

"Trump fires back at Comey, fights to examine Cohen papers" PBS NewsHour 4/16/2018

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SUMMARY:  Former FBI Director James Comey led off his new memoir media blitz by criticizing President Trump in an interview with ABC News, focusing much of his attack on the President's character, and addressing the Hillary Clinton email investigation as a “no-win situation.”  Trump on Monday questioned Comey's credibility, while his legal team fought a different battle.  Yamiche Alcindor reports.

"Will Comey’s book have any effect on the Russia probe?" PBS NewsHour 4/16/2018

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SUMMARY:  New revelations by former FBI director James Comey have stirred the President's ire on Twitter.  But do they say anything new about the potential legal trouble President Trump could face?  Judy Woodruff talks with Chuck Rosenberg a former U.S. attorney and senior FBI official, about Comey’s book, as well as efforts by Trump’s legal team to stop prosecutors to examine files of his personal lawyer.

"Trump firing Mueller would ‘create a constitutional crisis,’ Sen. Warner says" PBS NewsHour 4/19/2018

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SUMMARY:  The Senate Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat said Thursday that President Donald Trump would spark a “constitutional crisis” if he fired special counsel Robert Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

“I believe that firing Mueller or Rosenstein would create a constitutional crisis,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va) told the PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff.  Warner added that “history would then judge all of us” if Congress did not prevent Trump from firing the officials in charge of overseeing the FBI’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible ties to the Trump campaign.

The White House has in the past denied that Trump is considering firing Mueller.  Rosenstein appointed the former FBI director last May to head the Russia probe.

But Warner said the President is unpredictable.  Last week, as FBI agents raided Michael Cohen, the President’s personal lawyer, Trump said “we’ll see what happens” when asked if he’d fire Mueller.  And White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the President had the power to fire Mueller, if he wanted to.

“Saying one thing on one day doesn’t mean that’ll be his position the next day,” Warner said of Trump.

Warner, who along with Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) is leading the Senate Intelligence panel’s probe into Russia — also expressed support for a bipartisan Senate bill aimed at protecting Mueller from getting fired.  The bill would fast track a judicial review of a President’s decision to fire Mueller and future special counsels.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is planning to hold a committee vote on the bill.  But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) has said he won’t bring the bill to the full Senate floor, so its chances of passage, at least now, appear to be zero.

Warner said he was disappointed in McConnell’s opposition to the proposal.  Warner added that he hoped the majority leader “would reconsider” if the Judiciary Committee passes the measure with overwhelming bipartisan support.

TRUMP CRISIS - The Michael Cohen Raid

"What Robert Mueller has to do with the FBI raid on Trump’s personal attorney" PBS NewsHour 4/9/2018

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SUMMARY:  FBI agents raided and seized records from President Trump's long-time personal attorney, Michael Cohen.  Multiple news outlets report that agents took records related to payments Cohen made to the adult film actress known as Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Trump in 2006.  William Brangham talks to Eric Tucker of the Associated Press.

"Trump anger over FBI raids sparks speculation of Mueller firing" PBS NewsHour 4/10/2018

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SUMMARY:  According to the White House, President Trump believes he has the power to fire Robert Mueller after the FBI raided Trump's personal lawyer based on information from the special counsel's team.  It's widely reported that the FBI seized thousands of Michael Cohen's records dealing with two women who say they had sexual affairs with Trump.  John Yang reports and Yamiche Alcindor joins Judy Woodruff.

"How Mueller could use evidence from the FBI’s raid on Michael Cohen" PBS NewsHour 4/10/2018

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SUMMARY:  The FBI raid on the office and residence of President Trump's personal lawyer is an extraordinary and unusual step that would require high-level authorization at the Justice Department and the burden of evidence showing probable cause.  Judy Woodruff gets analysis from attorney Mark Zaid, and former federal prosecutor Paul Butler, on what it means for the Russia investigation.

TRUMP - Running Scared

"Trump takes aim at Robert Mueller, lashing out at Russia probe" PBS NewsHour 3/19/2018

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SUMMARY:  President Trump made new accusations on social media Monday that the probe into ties between his campaign and Russia is a "witch hunt," directly criticizing the special counsel.  Lawmakers in both parties have warned Trump not to fire Robert Mueller, warning of a dire crisis for his Presidency.  Lisa Desjardins reports.

"How will Andrew McCabe's firing affect the Mueller probe?" PBS NewsHour 3/19/2018

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SUMMARY:  FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was fired on Friday, two days before he was set to retire; Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he was dismissed on the recommendation of FBI disciplinary officials.  McCabe also reportedly kept notes on his conversations with the President, and has turned them over to the Special Counsel.  Judy Woodruff talks to Adam Goldman from The New York Times.

"Trump tweets on Andrew McCabe taints Justice Department decision, says former official" PBS NewsHour 3/19/2018

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SUMMARY:  Lisa Monaco, a former Assistant Attorney General and Homeland Security Adviser, says we can't judge the merits of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to fire Andrew McCabe because the Justice Department’s Inspector General report has not been made public, which she called “highly unusual."  Monaco joins Judy Woodruff to give her impressions of McCabe and the President’s tweets.

TRUMP AGENDA - Mean Spirited Revenge, McCabe Fired

"What does McCabe's firing mean for the Russia investigation?" PBS NewsHour 3/17/2018

Do you really think the timing was coincidental?  It was mean spirited revenge.

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SUMMARY:  Two days before he was set to retire, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was fired on Friday by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.  McCabe, a possible witness in the Russia investigation case, said his dismissal was part of the president’s “ongoing war on the FBI.”  NPR Justice Correspondent Carrie Johnson joins Megan Thompson for more.

REPUBLICAN AGENDA - The War Against the FBI

"Why the FBI went public with its objection to the Nunes memo release" PBS NewsHour 1/31/2018

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SUMMARY:  Conservative Republicans have been urging President Trump to release the classified House Intelligence Committee memo, believing it would discredit the FBI and the Russia investigation.  But the FBI has issued a statement saying the agency has "grave concerns and material omissions of fact" in the memo.  John Yang learns more from Devlin Barrett of The Washington Post.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION - Andrew McCabe

"Andrew McCabe, target of Trump's fire, steps down from FBI" PBS NewsHour 1/29/2018

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SUMMARY:  The FBI's deputy director is stepping down from the agency earlier than his March retirement.  Andrew McCabe, who once oversaw an investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server, has been a target of President Trump's anger and tweets in recent months.  The White House insisted the President has nothing to do with the decision.  Judy Woodruff reports.

"Sen. Warner on McCabe shake-up: Getting close to Russia investigation bad for job security" PBS NewsHour 1/29/2018

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SUMMARY:  Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) says he is concerned about the news that FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe is stepping down in the wake of the past firing of former director James Comey.  The Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee talks to Judy Woodruff about what he sees as efforts to impugn the FBI, the confidential Nunes memo, and the state of the Russia investigation, one year in.

REPUBLICAN AGENDA - The War on the FBI

Republicans are just as scared of the Russia Investigation as Trump.  Also, WHY is the memo classified?  Security reasons, I doubt it.

"Nunes’ classified memo ‘raises more questions than it answers,’ says former FBI agent Rep. Fitzpatrick" PBS NewsHour 1/25/2018

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SUMMARY:  Congressional Republicans are fanning doubts about the Russia probe.  Without offering direct evidence, one senator spoke of corruption and a "secret society" within the FBI.  Meanwhile, a memo drafted by aides to Rep. Devin Nunes reportedly alleges that the FBI abused its powers to surveil the Trump campaign.  John Yang gets reaction from Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn) a former FBI agent.

TRUMP AGENDA - Disrespect the FBI

Little-boy Donny is cowering in a corner and lashing back.

"Justice Department defends Russia probe from GOP claims of FBI political bias" PBS NewsHour 12/13/2017

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SUMMARY:  The Deputy Attorney General defended Robert Mueller's Russia investigation on Wednesday against GOP charges that the probe is a partisan "witch hunt" against President Trump.  [U.S.] House members pointed to text messages by a top FBI official about Trump as a candidate.  Hari Sreenivasan talks with former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal.

TERRORISM - New York City Attack

"Suspect in custody in NYC after 'lone-wolf' truck attack" PBS NewsHour 10/31/2017

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SUMMARY:  At least eight people are dead and more than a dozen injured after a rented pickup truck plowed into a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center Memorial in Manhattan on Tuesday.  A 29-year-old male has been taken into custody and Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed that they believe it to be an act of terror.  Special correspondent Marcia Biggs talks with Judy Woodruff from New York.

"Fatal NYC truck incident called an act of terror, here's what it has in common with recent European attacks" PBS NewsHour 10/31/2017

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SUMMARY:  After a deadly truck attack killed eight in Manhattan on Tuesday, multiple news networks have identified the driver as Sayfullo Saipov of Tampa, Florida.  John Yang speaks with Lorenzo Vidino of George Washington University about how the latest incident may fit into recent acts of extremism in Europe.

"New York suspect reportedly planned attack for a long time.  What more could law enforcement do to prevent terrorism?" PBS NewsHour 11/1/2017

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SUMMARY:  The suspect in the deadly New York attack, Sayfullo Saipov, was charged by the federal government for providing support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.  Special correspondent Marcia Biggs reports on how investigators are piecing together a clearer picture of what led to the attack, and Hari Sreenivasan talks to retired FBI counterterror official Jeffrey Ringel.

OPINION - Shields and Brooks 6/9/2017

"Shields and Brooks on James Comey hearing takeaways" PBS NewsHour 6/9/2017

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SUMMARY:  Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the testimony of former FBI Director James Comey before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  And to the analysis of Shields and Brooks.  That's syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks.

Welcome, gentlemen.

So, let's continue the conversation about James Comey.

David, we heard today what the President thinks of it.  He said he thought the former FBI director vindicated him, but he also was telling lies.  What did you think?

DAVID BROOKS, The New York Times:  I thought Trump actually had some points.

I think one of the things we heard on the criminal side, it wasn't a bad, not a terrible day for Donald Trump.  James Comey seemed to suggest that there was no — maybe — cast some doubt at least the idea there was a lot of collusion between the Russian government and the Trump campaign or even a lot of conversations.

I think what Trump did to James Comey, clearing the room and asking him to lay off on Flynn, was scandalous, I think terrible, but probably not something that would rise to the level of impeachment in any normal Presidency.

So, to me, on the criminal front, not a disastrous testimony for Donald Trump.  On the cultural front, on the moral front, kind of disastrous.  The thought that he [Trump] lied is pretty strong.  We do know, because of what Comey said yesterday, there's going to be a lot more investigations.

And every time there's some sort of independent or special investigation into the White House, it can swallow a White House up not only for months, but for years.  The Whitewater investigation went on for seven years.

And so I think what's going to happen is, you are going to have a continued administration that's dysfunctional, that is under investigation, that is distrustful, and a President who's obsessed, not with policy, not with anything constructive, but with this sort of warfare.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  What did you make of James Comey and what he had to say?

MARK SHIELDS, Syndicated Columnist:  I thought James Comey was believable.

I thought he was compelling, in large part because, Judy, he admitted his flaws.  He did not present himself as Galahad or some profile in courage.  He acknowledged the fact that the pressure of being one-on-one with the President just in the White House, that he had not said to the President it was inappropriate.  He said he hadn't been strong enough.

But what was most revealing to me of all the hearings, Republicans — and I do want the say one word to the Senators.  I mean, they didn't do soliloquies.  They didn't do seven-minute statements followed by a question, do you agree?  I thought — and they didn't show rank partisanship, I felt, and that there was a seriousness led by Chairman Burr and Co-Chair Warner.

But what impressed me most of all was that, while Republican Senators were willing to come to the defense of the President, a point David made, that there wasn't obstruction of justice on his part or whatever, none of them challenged Director Comey's direct statements the President lied and that he was a liar, and that is why he had to memorialize each meeting with the President, each conversation with the President, because he feared that the President would lie.

And nobody said, 'no, wait a minute, this is George Washington.'  This is a man [Trump], a total — he does have a reputation for exaggeration, hyping, and some would say not a totally consistent relationship with the truth and reality.

And I think that's a real problem for him [Trump].  The fact he wasn't under investigation is significant, but, ironically, nobody asked him, and Director Comey didn't volunteer, whether, as a consequence of what happened in his meetings at the White House, that he may now have opened himself up to some investigation, he, the President.

TESTIMONY - All Comey

"Assessing Comey's justifications for Clinton email actions" PBS NewsHour 6/8/2017

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SUMMARY:  Senators again questioned former FBI Director James Comey about his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email and what pushed him to take the unusual step to discuss it publicly last summer.  Judy Woodruff gets analysis from John Carlin, Carrie Cordero, Greg Craig and George Terwilliger, four people with extensive experience in government and the law.

"Did Comey testimony shed light on whether Trump obstructed justice?" PBS NewsHour 6/8/2017

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SUMMARY:  Perhaps the biggest question swirling around former FBI Director James Comey's testimony is whether President Trump or other White House officials obstructed justice.  Judy Woodruff gets analysis from John Carlin, Carrie Cordero, Greg Craig and George Terwilliger, four people with extensive experience in government and the law.

"Should Comey have spoken up against Trump's request?" PBS NewsHour 6/8/2017

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SUMMARY:  Former FBI Director James Comey was asked by Sen. Dianne Feinstein why he didn't clearly speak up against President Trump's request to drop the criminal investigation into his former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.  Judy Woodruff gets analysis from John Carlin, Carrie Cordero, Greg Craig and George Terwilliger, four people with extensive experience in government and the law.

"The questions James Comey didn't answer in the Senate hearing" PBS NewsHour 6/8/2017

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SUMMARY:  There were several things that former FBI Director James Comey said he couldn't publicly answer in a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.  Judy Woodruff gets analysis from John Carlin, Carrie Cordero, Greg Craig and George Terwilliger, four people with extensive experience in government and the law.

"What does Comey's testimony mean for the Russia probe?" PBS NewsHour 6/8/2017

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SUMMARY:  While the nation watched, former FBI Director James Comey offered a raft of revelations about his interactions with President Trump in a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, his first public appearance since being fired.  Lisa Desjardins, John Yang, and Matt Apuzzo of The New York Times join Judy Woodruff to discuss the major headlines that emerged from his testimony.

"Comey intrigue overshadowed by pressing local concerns in many communities" PBS NewsHour 6/9/2017

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SUMMARY:  The testimony of former FBI Director James Comey before the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday sent ripples across the nation as millions tuned in.  How are different communities responding to Comey?  Hari Sreenivasan talks to Brandon Smith of Indiana Public Broadcasting, Jon Ralston of Nevada Independent, and Ashton Marra of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

TRUMP AGENDA - Compromising the FBI

"How does the FBI insulate itself from political pressure?" PBS NewsHour 4/5/2017

COMMENT:  This is the continuing saga of Trump not wanting exposure nor criticism.  In his alt-universe he can do anything he wants without hindrance.

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SUMMARY:  The FBI's investigation into Russian meddling in the election, yet another politically sensitive case, has drawn scrutiny for the bureau.  Last year Director James Comey was criticized for his handling of an investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's email server.  William Brangham talks to former FBI official Stephanie Douglas and former Justice Department official John Carlin.

POLITICS - The Traitors Among Us

There ARE traitors in the United States of America, and they are Republicans.

Like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who refused to make the American public aware of the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence conclusion: Vladimir Putin's government deliberately interfered with America's presidential election at a 'secret' briefings.

Is there any doubt that if this situation had been reversed, a foreign country being caught influencing our Presidential election in favor of Hillary Clinton, that the Republicans would have gone berserk and attacked President Obama, Hillary, and all Democrats?

In the lead-up to Trump's nomination, the GOP was fractured and in disarray (just look at how many candidates they presented).  So now that their despicable candidate Trump has won and they have Congress in their firm grasp, they are not going to risk their position, even to the point of being traitors to the U.S. by allowing a foreign government to hijack our elections.

Just watch.  Russia will get what they really want when Trump drops the U.S. sanctions on Russia that were imposed because of Russian's military intervention in Ukraine.

"Russian efforts to boost Trump campaign jolt political world" by Steve Benen, The MaddowBlog (MSNBC) 12/12/2016

A senior U.S. official, briefed on an intelligence presentation made to members of Congress, told the Post that it's “the consensus view” of the U.S. intelligence community that Russia's alleged crimes had one specific purpose: “Russia's goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected.”

There's been some speculation in recent months that Putin's suspected interference was intended to undermine American democracy in general, casting doubts about the strength of our system and its institutions.  The Washington Post's report indicates that those assessments were incomplete: Russia wanted Donald Trump in the White House, so Russian officials allegedly took a variety of criminal steps to ensure that outcome.

The White House, swayed by the evidence, wanted bipartisan support to pushback against Russian intrusion, and in mid-September, President Obama dispatched counter-terrorism adviser Lisa Monaco, FBI Director James Comey, and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to brief top members of Congress (the “Gang of 12”).  Obama didn't want to be seen as using intelligence for partisan or electoral ends, so he sought a “show of solidarity and bipartisan unity” against foreign manipulation of our democracy.

That didn't happen, in large part because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) refused, raising questions about whether the Republican leader intentionally put his party's interests ahead of the nation's.

Indeed, given the fact that a variety of GOP leaders were made aware of Russia's attempts to hijack the American election for its own purposes, Evan McMullin, an independent presidential candidate and former GOP policy staffer on Capitol Hill, asserted over the weekend, “Republican leaders knew Russia was undermining our democracy during the election and they chose to ignore it.”

OPINION - Shields and Brooks 10/28/2016

"Shields and Brooks on the election's ‘parity of sleaze'" PBS NewsHour 10/28/2016

COMMENT:  Love the "Party of Sleaze"

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In the wake of a new FBI investigation into emails from Hillary Clinton's aides and more sexual assault accusations against Donald Trump, syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss a campaign environment of "sleaze" and the election's outlook.  But they also take a break from politics to consider the exciting Cubs-Indians World Series.

ELECTION 2016 - FBI Interferes With Election Process, Again

COMMENT:  As many have implied, including those within the FBI, James Comely is interfering with our election process, weather he intended to or not.  He has become a (unwitting?) Trump supporter.

"FBI to investigate new batch of server-related Clinton emails" PBS NewsHour 10/28/2016

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Call it an October surprise.  Today's FBI statement about Hillary Clinton's emails roiled the presidential race, just 11 days before the election.  Donald Trump pounced.  The Clinton camp demanded more information.

Lisa Desjardins begins our coverage.

LISA DESJARDINS (NewsHour):  Hillary Clinton landed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to campaign, but was greeted by the news that the FBI is reviewing newly found emails linked the private server she used as secretary of state.

In a letter to congressional chairmen, FBI Director James Comey said:  “An unrelated investigation turned up emails that appear pertinent to the Clinton case.” He said he agreed with his team to allow investigators to review the emails and determine whether they contain classified information, as well as assess their importance.

The candidate herself did not respond to shouted questions, and did not address it at her rally, sticking with her stump speech.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), Presidential Nominee:  Everyone working across the state are going to make sure that we win Iowa.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

LISA DESJARDINS:  Clinton's campaign chairman did send out a statement this afternoon calling the timing of the announcement extraordinary and urging the FBI to give more details about the emails in question, stressing that it's not clear if these emails are significant.

In Manchester, New Hampshire:

DONALD TRUMP (R), Presidential Nominee:  That I heard 10 minutes ago.

LISA DESJARDINS:  The news was certainly significant to Donald Trump.

DONALD TRUMP:  We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

DONALD TRUMP:  I have great respect for the fact that the FBI and the Department of Justice are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made.

LISA DESJARDINS:  This the same day that Clinton hoped to focus on other areas, like debuting a new television ad featuring President Obama.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:  These last eight years is on the ballot.

LISA DESJARDINS:  And the Clinton camp had good news on the fund-raising front, as Donald Trump faced new money questions, especially about his repeated pledges to personally finance his campaign, like this from two days ago.

DONALD TRUMP:  I will have over $100 million in the campaign.  And I'm prepared to go much more than that.

LISA DESJARDINS:  But new fund-raising reports show the total Trump personally donated to the campaign was $56 million as of just over a week ago.  His contributions dropped in October to a total of $31,000 for the first three weeks of this month.

What might matter more is how much Trump's campaign has on hand.  It's $16 million according to the report.  That compares with $62 million in Hillary Clinton's war chest.  Today, Trump said he is writing a $10 million check to his campaign.  That is a big boost, but it still leaves a more than 2-1 money gap.

Meanwhile, key Senate races are winding up with a contentious New Hampshire Senate debate last night and a headline-making face-off in Illinois.  Democratic Congresswoman and Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth had spoken of her family's history of military service going back to the Revolutionary War.

That prompted this from incumbent Republican Mark Kirk:

SEN.  MARK KIRK (R-Ill.):  I had forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington.

LISA DESJARDINS:  Duckworth's mother is a Thai immigrant.  Her father's family does go back to the nation's founding.  Kirk later apologized.

With a week-and-a-half left, the twists and turns of campaign 2016 keep coming.

For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Lisa Desjardins.

"Interpreting the FBI's announcement on Clinton's private server" PBS NewsHour 10/28/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Director James Comey announced the FBI will review a new batch of emails apparently related to Hillary Clinton's private server.  The messages were discovered in an unrelated investigation concerning former Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner's alleged communication with a 15-year-old girl.  To discuss the startling development, Judy Woodruff speaks with the Wall Street Journal's Devlin Barrett.

HACKING THE VOTE - Manipulation of Election 2016 Results?

A gift from Donald's Russian friend.

"Could hackers compromise November election results?" PBS NewsHour 9/30/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Since the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, there has been growing concern about cyber-manipulation of election results this November.  Voter registration databases in Illinois and Arizona were penetrated in June, and the FBI reported this week on attempts against several other states.  Hari Sreenivasan talks to chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner for more on the threat.

HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour):  Concern has been growing about possible cyber-manipulation of the U.S. election since revelations in June that the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Committee's data had been stolen.

U.S. intelligence official pointed the finger at Russian-government-linked hackers, though wouldn't say so publicly.  Separately, Illinois and Arizona's voter registration databases were penetrated in June, forcing them to temporarily shut down.

This week, FBI Director James Comey told Congress there had been new attempts to penetrate many more state voter databases.

Margaret Warner has been looking into this and joins me now.

So, what's the real danger to the elections if voter registration databases are being hacked?

MARGARET WARNER (NewsHour):  Hari, on one hand, it could be strictly criminal.  People want to get addresses, home phone numbers, e-mails, and use it for criminal purposes.

And many states have had to deal with that in the past.  But the other danger is that information can be used to selectively used to manipulate the vote on Election Day.

For example, send out e-mails to voters in certain districts, perhaps minority districts, and, oh, your registration place has been changed, your voting place has been changed.  And this has been done often by phone.  It's an old, old trick.  Or to simply to delete them from the database, so when they get there, there is incredible confusion.

So, as a senior homeland security official told me this afternoon, the other danger that really worries us is that just the news of these hacks undermined American voters' view of the credibility of the U.S.  election system.  And there are certainly foreign powers who would like to do that.

HARI SREENIVASAN:  So, let's talk about those foreign powers.

Do the U.S. officials believe that the Russians are behind this or any of the other hacks that have been related so far?

MARGARET WARNER:  Yes.

First of all, they established that they were behind the hacks you mentioned earlier, the DNC and the DCCC, and that there are two sort of outfits, what is called Fancy Bear — it's a nickname — and one is Cozy Bear.

One is linked to the old KGB called the GRU and one is linked to military intelligence.  And I was told by cyber-experts who have been involved in these investigations that these voter database hacks are the work of so-called Fancy Bear, which is the one side to Russian military intelligence.

This is the same outfit that, in Ukraine, in Ukrainian elections two years ago, penetrated the database of the Ukrainian election authorities and tried to switch the actual plate that showed who was winning where.  They didn't succeed, but the fake plate that showed someone else won did end up on Russian TV in Russia.