It is indisputable that there are people in the United States who are using an organized, very well-funded strategy as well as very aggressive tactics to remove President Donald J. Trump from office.

That by itself is not illegal.

Neither is it illegal for employees of the federal government, including employees of the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to express their personal views about the competence and qualifications of public officials.

However, a federal employee’s expression of personal views goes beyond what is permitted or prohibited by the Hatch Act when that employee uses his or her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.

Hatch Act violations are serious.  However, they are not as serious as interfering in federal criminal investigations involving the alleged violation of national security laws including:

• 2 U.S.C. § 192 (Contempt of Congress Related to National Security)
• 18 U.S.C. § 219 et seq. (Officers and Employees of the United States Acting as Foreign Agents)
• 18 U.S.C. § 791 et seq. (Espionage; Unauthorized Disclosure of Classified Information)
• 18 U.S.C. § 9S1 et seq. (Neutrality  Laws)
• 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(1) (Computer  Espionage)
• 18 U.S.C. § 1S42 et seq. (Passport Violations Related to National Security)
• 18 U.S.C. § 1924 (Unauthorized Removal and Retention of Classified Documents or Material)
• 18 U.S.C. § 2381et seq. (Treason, Sedition and Subversive Activities)
• 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (Wire Fraud, including wire fraud or hacking by or on behalf of a foreign government in which 18 U.S.C. § 1831 or 18 U.S.C.§ 1030(a)(1) are not specifically included as charges)
• 22 U.S.C. § 611 et seq. (Foreign Agents Registration)
• 42 U.S.C. § 2274 to 2278, 2284, and other Atomic Energy Violations that Affect National Security (Atomic Energy Act)
• 50 U.S.C. § 3121 (Intelligence Identities Protection Act)
• 50 U.S.C. § 782 et seq. (Communication  of Classified Information by Government Officer or Employee)
• 50 U.S.C. § 8S1et seq. (Registration of Person Who Has Knowledge Concerning Espionage Activities)
• 50 U.S.C. § 2401et seq. (Export Administration Act)
• 50 U.S.C. App. § 5(b) (Trading With the Enemy Act)

These laws are not supposed to be waived simply because an alleged violator is a former President, a former Secretary of State and a now-former presidential candidate,  or a high-level employee of the DoJ or FBI.

Similarly, it seems to OpenCdA writing from Upper Trashcanistan, Idaho, that for federal employees to conspire (notice we didn’t say “collude”) to interfere with or prevent the initiation of a criminal investigation into alleged violations of any of these laws might qualify as separate violations under 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Conspiracy) and 18 U.S.C. § 1510 (Obstruction of Criminal Investigations). 

A few readers may have inadvertently missed watching the five hours and twenty-three minutes of riveting questions directed at FBI Director Christopher Wray in a Full Committee Hearing by the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on December 7, 2017.

If you missed that one, you can still watch it at the link above.  And then since you’re on a roll,  watch five hours and four minutes of obfuscation and evasion by DoJ Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.  It was shoveled to the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on December 13, 2017.

The purpose of both hearings was to expose and question the conduct of some FBI and Department of Justice employees to minimize or even erase the crimes allegedly committed by government employees and elected officials during the Clinton and Obama administrations and the 2016 presidential campaign.

If you missed them, you weren’t alone.  The national and local skews media paid little attention either.

In trying to fathom the apparent corruption among some government employees (the Swamp Rats) on the Mahogany Row floors of both the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building and the J. Edgar Hoover F.B.I. Building, there is one very important fact that readers must understand and accept:

Hillary Clinton was almost universally expected to win the 2016 presidential election and become the 45th President of the United States.

Fairly early in the second Obama four-year debacle, it became obvious to everyone except now-President Donald Trump that Hillary Clinton would be elected to succeed Obama.  With that much lead time, those swamp rats higher up in the federal agencies including DoJ and FBI began jockeying for recognition and elevation in anticipation of the coronation of the queen.

At the rarified level of those who covet Presidential and Senior Executive Service (SES) appointments, political connections matter.   Connections with those who make final criminal investigative and prosecutorial decisions and recommendations matter even more.

In spite of their length, the House Judiciary Committee hearings linked above are worth watching.

OpenCdA thought that Robert Mueller had been an honest and honorable FBI Director.  We were wrong.

We thought that James Comey was an honest and honorable FBI Director.  We were wrong.

Director Wray typically and in our view, appropriately answered many of the questions with one of two responses:

• I will not comment on any matter currently under investigation by the Special Counsel, or
• That matter is currently being investigated by an independent Inspector General and it would not be appropriate for me to comment on it at this time.

DAG Rosenstein answered more succinctly:  Wait for the Inspector General’s report.  We are told it should be available early in 2018.

OpenCdA used to think that departmental IG’s reports would be timely, thorough, complete, and unbiased.  Among the federal IGs, DoJ IG Michael Horowitz is by some considered to be the best of the best.

Then again, the “best of the best” accolade was also heaped on Robert Mueller and James Comey, so there’s little we can do but wait and see if Horowitz lives up to his reputation or if he rolls like a cheap Corvair and delivers a get-out-of-jail card to the Clinton Crime Family.