Journalists wined and dined FBI employees and gave them perks like tickets to sporting events, according to the report released Thursday by the Justice Department’s Inspector General (IG).
The report focused on the bureau’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe. But it also noted:
We identified instances where FBI employees received tickets to sporting events from journalists, went on golfing outings with media representatives, were treated to drinks and meals after work by reporters, and were the guests of journalists at nonpublic social events.
Those interactions “were, at a minimum, inconsistent with FBI policy and
Department ethics rules,” the report said. It didn’t offer details on the episodes, saying they’ll be documented in a forthcoming report.
Very few FBI employees are actually authorized to even talk to the media, but the IG investigation found that the policy was “widely ignored” in 2016. The IG expressed “profound concerns about the volume and extent” of these unsanctioned contacts.
The report also notes that these frequent interactions made it difficult to determine the source of leaks. Many FBI employees had access to sensitive government information and were in contact with the press.
Is there a chance that the wining and dining, and . . . cough, Golf, could be from conservative tv outlets? If so, does that mean their efforts were meant to influence as much as extract information to FBI agents and such?
If you’re going to do this kind of stuff, at least don’t do it in ways that your IG can easily trace. (It sounds as if either some agents or some journalists flipped, from items such as “guests at nonpublic events”.)
I do worry a little that they’re not including rudi in this, since he’s not anything like a journalist.
How many dinners did Bret Baier have to cough up for his leak…
Nothing in the IG report about that false FoxNews FBI leak that piggybacked on the Comey letter.
November 2, 2016
Bret Baier: FBI Sources Believe Clinton Foundation Case Moving Towards “Likely an Indictment”
Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier reports the latest news about the Clinton Foundation investigation from two sources inside the FBI.
/02/fbi_sources_tell_fox_news_indictment_likely_in_clinton_foundation_case.html
So what happens if FBI agents talk to reporters and just give them complete wish-fulfillment bull-puckey? Is that considered leaking, since no factual information changed hands?
They probably leaked to Rudy just because he’s Their Guy. Media, though, has to hand over the payola.