Today's smears come to us courtesy of Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and the FBI. Please do note the common thread running through each of these stories.
In the video above, we have Lou Dobbs breathlessly reporting that FBI sources say there's evidence that Clinton's private server was hacked.
Then we have Bret Baier breathlessly reporting that FBI sources say an indictment on Clinton Foundation wrongdoing is near.
Finally, the Wall Street Journal has another "let's dish on Clinton Foundation investigations" article out tonight, based solely on FBI sources. You can read it if you want to (it's unlocked).
Do you see the common link? We have an FBI that's fully and totally out of control, with a whole bunch of agents leaking bullsh*t stories 5 days ahead of an election exclusively to Murdoch-owned media outlets.
The Wall Street Journal article at least tries to incorporate the competing narratives into one. I'll summarize for you.
- Some FBI guys in the New York office wanted a witch hunt
- The FBI guys were rabid because of Schweitzer's Clinton Cash book which Trump campaign CEO Stephen Bannon funded with right wing tax deductible dollars.
- DOJ and public corruption lawyers said nope, you've got nothing. Give it up, stand down.
- Some agents who are still on the public payroll refuse to accept that verdict.
- FBI is now leaking like a sieve to Murdoch news organizations (and Murdoch organizations alone) because they have nothing left but going rogue.
As a reminder, that book they used as a source for opening an investigation -- Clinton Cash -- was partially paid for with taxpayer dollars, since the donor billionaires paid the bill by giving millions to a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) faux charity known as the Government Accountability Institute.
Taxpayers also paid for the FBI to chase leads going nowhere, and they paid DOJ lawyers to step on the investigation, and they're paying those same FBI agents to leak unsubstantiated stories to the media in an effort to overtly meddle in our election process.
As a taxpayer, that outrages me. It should outrage all of us. I agree with Josh Marshall's conclusion here:
But a [FBI] Director should be able to control this stuff and stand up to political pressure. He has not been able to do either.
What is happening right now is unprecedented. It is what they do in banana republics. It demands disinfectant, and it demands it now. There is clear collusion with Steve Bannon and the Trump campaign to not only disrupt our election process, but also to leverage a corrupt, partisan, and out-of-control FBI.
