Mark Hosenball has another look inside what’s been happening at the FBI. It’s another slice of the story but one that is consistent with Spencer Ackerman’s piece in The Guardian and the best reporting I’ve seen on James Comey’s role in this. I continue to think that one key part of Comey’s role was simply a mix of naivete and indifference about the effect of his letter. Another driving force, though, as Hosenball reports, was fear of leaks and the Republican criticism they would drive.
I don’t know how violent the Trumps are in practice. Donald Trump certainly seems to have a problem with forcible sexual encounters. Likely they can outsource their violence to others. But whatever they do in practice, there’s a clear propensity to think and speak and encourage violence.
Eric Trump told a Denver radio station that David Duke “deserves a bullet.”
I like to resist too knee-jerk a response to how people of different races and religions accused of crimes are described. Every incident is different. They need to be approached on their own facts and merits. But, man, quite often the contrast is simply too jarring and large not to state the obvious. Blacks and Muslim killers are part of political movements and socio-political forces. White guys are “troubled.”
Frankly, I can’t say I’m surprised by this. This is pretty clear based on what’s happened over the last week and it was somewhat apparent for months before that. Former TPMer Spencer Ackerman, who’s very well-sourced on this front, spoke to numerous FBI sources who described a climate of intense antipathy to Hillary Clinton with big support for Donald Trump driving a flurry of leaks.
From Spencer …
Deep antipathy to Hillary Clinton exists within the FBI, multiple bureau sources have told the Guardian, spurring a rapid series of leaks damaging to her campaign just days before the election.
As Einstein proved early in the 20th century, bullshit moves very fast. With that in mind, I wanted to flag a point about this Fox News report last night about an FBI investigation of the Clinton Foundation. It’s already the centerpiece of Trump’s stump speech. The upshot of the report is that the FBI has a fairly advanced investigation of the Clinton Foundation, with lots of new information pouring in and that indictments are “likely.” This is needless to say pretty explosive information on the eve of a presidential election. But there are two pretty big problems with this story – both on Fox’s part and how the story was picked up and then distorted by The Hill and RCP.
Brazilian prosecutor opens a criminal investigation into pension fund investment in Tump’s Rio de Janiero hotel. Remember, there is a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the US. I’m sure the FBI is on top of it.
We have some increasingly positive early vote news in North Carolina this morning but some very disquieting news out of New Hampshire. Two polls this morning showing Trump in the lead in New Hampshire. That pushes New Hampshire into the Toss Up category. That’s a Blue Wall state.
It’s November 3 and the PollTracker Average stands at Clinton 46.5 percent, Trump 43.7 percent, a 2.8 percentage-point spread.
The TPM Electoral Scoreboard stands at Clinton 273, Trump 221. Florida, and North Carolina are in the Toss Up category.
It would seem that basically everyone at the FBI is leaking their sides of various internal disputes and turf wars, largely tied to various investigations of the Clintons or attempts to start investigations of the Clintons. That alone paints a picture of Director James Comey as having totally lost control of the organization. But the points of dispute themselves, well ….
Federal judge in North Carolina is deeply skeptical of the state’s process in which anyone can challenge and purge voters from the voting rolls: “This sounds like something that was put together in 1901,” she told lawyers for the state, who are defending the law and the thousands of purges carried out under it in the last few weeks. The NAACP is suing.