Category Archives: Bad Cops

Bad Cops, Civil Unrest, Freedom

Elderly Woman Trampled by Ottawa Police Horse Identified- Is Mohawk Elder and Grandmother, She Is Currently in Hospital

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In some of the most shocking scenes to come out of Ottawa over the weekend was video of Royal Canadian Mounted Police trampling an elderly woman with a walker on horseback.

Several RCMP officers can be seen ramming their horses into the crowd of protesters as they clear a path for other officers.

A group of officers on horseback refused to stop or even slow down when they brutally trampled a group of protesters who likely didn’t see them coming at all.

The officers just continue moving along as if nothing happened.

One woman with a walker was trampled by the horses.

The woman was later identified as protester “Candy”. She was sleeping in her car at night during the protests.

Candy posted a thank you on her Twitter page.

Bad Cops, Civil Unrest, Freedom

Not Going to Be a ‘Punching Bag’ for the Police: Freedom Convoy Spokesman Announces Peaceful Withdrawal From Ottawa

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Isaac Teo and Limin Zhou
February 21st, 2022
Via the Epoch Times

OTTAWA—As police in Ottawa escalated operations for the second day in a row against the trucker protest opposed to the government’s COVD-19 mandates, a spokesperson for the movement, dubbed “Freedom Convoy,” called for a peaceful withdrawal, saying they are not going to be a “punching bag for law enforcement.”

Speaking at a press conference at the Lord Elgin Hotel in downtown Ottawa on Feb. 19, retired Canadian military officer Tom Marazzo said many truckers feel that the best course of action for them and their families is to withdraw in order to avoid further harm.

“As a movement, we have chosen to peacefully withdraw from the streets of Ottawa. There is nothing to be gained by being brutalized by police,” Marazzo said.

Police began escalating their operation against the protesters in Ottawa on Feb. 18, announcing mid-morning Feb. 20 that they have thus far made 191 arrests and had 57 vehicles towed away. Mounted police and officers on foot advanced on demonstrators, with horses knocking down protesters in some instances.

Some police officers were heavily armed, including with assault rifles and what appeared to be rubber bullet launchers. Some wielded batons and pepper spray, while some smashed truck windows to remove truckers from their vehicles.

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A police officer smashes a truck window as police deploy to remove protesters in Ottawa, Canada, on Feb. 19, 2022. (Dave Chan/AFP via Getty Images)

“It’s a dark day in our history,” Marazzo said. “Never in life would I believe anyone if they told me that our prime minister would refuse dialogue and choose violence against peaceful protesters.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has continued to refuse to meet with the organizers of the trucker convoy, which arrived in Ottawa on Jan. 28 and 29.

The convoy began as a protest by truck drivers opposed to the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for their cross-border travel. It turned into a much larger movement after many Canadians from across the country began joining in or voicing their support for ending the various COVID-19 mandates and restrictions.

Prior to the convoy’s arrival in Ottawa, at a press conference on Jan. 26 Trudeau dismissed the protesters as a “small fringe minority … who are holding unacceptable views.”

On Feb. 14, Trudeau became the first prime minister in Canada to invoke the Emergencies Act, aiming to use it as a means to quash the protest in Ottawa and similar ones in other parts of the country.

“The Emergencies Act will be used to strengthen and support law enforcement agencies at all levels across the country. This is about keeping Canadians safe, protecting people’s jobs, and restoring confidence in our institutions,” Trudeau said at a press conference on Feb. 14.

“The police will be given more tools to restore order in places where public assemblies can constitute illegal and dangerous activities such as blockades and occupations as seen in Ottawa, Ambassador Bridge, and elsewhere.”

Ottawa police called the protest in Ottawa “unlawful.”

Several of the Freedom Convoy organizers have been arrested, including Chris Barber and Tamara Lich on Feb. 17. Daniel Bulford, a former RCMP officer who was coordinating security for the protest, was arrested on Feb. 18 and later released without charge.

Marazzo, who isn’t aware whether there is a warrant for his arrest, said the protest in Ottawa has not engaged in any illegal activity.

“There was no damage. There was a little inconvenient noise, I’m sorry, but we’re here fighting for all the people that actually hate us too,” he said.

The retired officer criticized what he described as the “mainstream media” that has portrayed the protesters as being “anti-government,” noting that the convoy organizers have been trying to establish a dialogue with the federal government but have had no success.

“I want to be very clear that our intent has always been, and always will be, to talk to the official government of Canada,” he said. “I have stood at this podium, I have done other media events where I have outlined a plan, and I’ve said ‘I would like to talk to you.’”

“The response was, riot police—no discussion, no dialogue.”

NTD Photo
(L–R) Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms lawyer Keith Wilson and Freedom Convoy organizers Chris Barber and Tamara Lich hold a press conference in Ottawa on Feb. 3., 2022. (Gerry Smith/NTD)

During a press conference on Feb. 17, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino diverted his reply when a Francophone reporter asked whether the government has received intelligence that weapons were being brought to Ottawa or were already in Ottawa with the convoy, something the minister had been “insinuating for days,” according to the reporter

“I am not saying that there is an intelligence saying there are weapons in Ottawa,” Mendicino said. “There are public reports showing that there are indications that there [are] extremist ideological positions and there is a link between the blockades.”

He added that “there is a similarity in the rhetoric emerging in social media and elsewhere.”

At another press conference on Feb. 17, Bruce Pardy, law professor and executive director of Rights Probe, said Mendicino’s reply meant that the basis for the government’s actions was “rhetoric.”

“This is a government that has invoked an emergency statute on its own admission on the basis of something that somebody has said,” Pardy said. “They have no actual violence occurring. They have no intelligence about threats of violence occurring.”

Marazzo said the attempt by the federal government to “intimidate” the Freedom Convoy is futile as it is a grassroots movement, which if removed, “others will fill their roles.”

“You could say that we inspired people to actually take action, but we certainly were not giving any direction,” he said. “These movements are just organic. They pop up where people want to get up and do something because they’re fed up after two years of being treated like this.”

Marazzo said legal counsel and support for those injured and those being arrested by police is currently being organized. He added that “the truckers will be initiating a charter challenge seeking to have the court strike down the unconstitutional vaccine mandates that discriminate against us all.”

“I never thought I’d see the day when law enforcement officers would be arresting citizens for the crime of exercising their charter rights and freedoms to free assembly and free speech,” he said.

Marazzo also confirmed that his bank account has been frozen and credit cards cancelled. His spouse’s credit score also dropped 109 points on Feb. 18 even though she was not with him in Ottawa, he said.

At a press conference on Feb. 14, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said that under the Emergencies Act, the government has authorized banks to cut off services to both individuals and business clients who they suspect are aiding the blockades.

In a media briefing on Feb. 19, Interim Chief Steve Bell of the Ottawa Police Service said the Ottawa police will pursue the protesters even after the protest is over.

“If you are involved in this protest, we will actively look to identify you and follow up with financial sanctions and criminal charges. Absolutely. This investigation will go on for months to come,” he said.

Marazzo said the grassroots movement will regroup and plan their next move. “This is one battle in a larger war for our freedoms,” he said.

He added that all members of Parliament at the federal level have “failed us.”

“We elected these people to represent our best interest, but not to lord over us like kings and queens,” he said.

“Can you hear democracy? Democracy is dead now. It rings louder than the truckers’ horns.”

Limin Zhou and Noé Chartier contributed to this report.

Bad Cops, Civil Unrest, Investigative Journalism

Ottawa Police Staff Sargent Resigns From Position Over Freedom Convoy Mishandling

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An Ottawa Police Staff Sargent is resigning effectively immediately, likely over political leadership’s mishandling of the Freedom Convoy protests.

“The National Telegraph has just gotten word from a source inside the Ottawa Police that one of their staff sergeants has resigned from his position today, likely over a disagreement with the city’s policing philosophy towards the Freedom Convoy,” the National Telegraph reported.

“This is a major development for the Ottawa police as senior NCOs are the core of any police force and enforcing anything without their leadership is extremely difficult,” the report added.

“The source also said that there are unusually high rates of uniformed officers taking stress leave, vacation days, and sick days,” the report noted.

“This is another indicator that people inside the police force are not happy with the directions they are receiving from their political leaders,” the National Telegraph added.

Justin Trudeau’s failed leadership is collapsing as even Liberal MPs are defecting to the anti-mandate side.

Canadian provinces are beginning to revolt and ending their vaccine and mask mandates. Justin Trudeau’s coalition in the Canadian parliament is even showing signs of crumbling, as a Liberal MP is announcing his defection from the pro-mandate side.

“Liberal MP for Louis-Hébert (a suburb of Quebec City) Joël Lightbound came out today and held a press conference about what he called the ‘politicization of the pandemic’,” the National Telegraph reported.

“At this press event, Lightbound explained that he would not engage in ‘these easy and absurd labels’ to smear protesters and believes the truckers and their supporters have legitimate concerns,” he added.

Lightbound explained at his press conference that over half of Canadians want the vaccine mandates and passports lifted.

Another Member of Parliament, a conservative in the House of Commons from Manitoba named Raquel Dancho, laid into Trudeau in an impassioned speech for being so far behind other advanced countries in concluding that authoritarian Covid policies don’t work. Watch:

“There are millions of Canadians, millions of them that have been deeply ostracized from society,” Dancho said. “And when you don’t listen to those people, they mobilize. And we’ve seen protests across this country for over a century and rightfully so, we have the right to peacefully protest. And I would ask the protesters outside that they do their best and stay vigilant, to stay peaceful.”

“But we are seeing other governments around the world step up with lower vaccination rates and say, ‘Look, we hear you, you’ve been traumatized. We’re moving forward. Here’s the deadline, this is the plan. No more mandates, no more masks, no more distancing. You can travel, you can live your life, you can hug each other again. Here’s the date. This is the plan. Here’s the thresholds,” she added.

“None of that in Canada. Absolutely none of that from the Prime Minister,” she went on.

“People have been traumatized and they’re mobilizing because they need some hope, they need somebody in this house of privilege to come down from our ivory towers and say, ‘Okay, little people, we hear you. So sorry we’ve traumatized you for two years. We’re gonna step up and we’re gonna give you some hope. Here’s a deadline.’ The member opposite is laughing,” she noted.

“The people in this house are incredibly privileged,” Dancho added. “You’ve kept — pardon me, that member has kept his job. Thousands of Canadians have lost their job. And he’s laughing about his privilege, his own privilege. What has he done to serve members that are marginalized during this pandemic in his community, Mr. Speaker, but laugh at them in this House of Commons? Shame on that member.”

“I would ask this government to do everything they can, I asked them this two years ago in the House, go to other countries, see what they’re doing, what are the best practices,” she went on. “How is it that other highly advanced, developed nations like the U.K., Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, how — the United States, how is it that they have all the same tools we have, they have all the economic resources we have, they’ve done — their citizens have done all the work and made all the sacrifices. Why is it that those citizens get a plan for hope of when we get back to normal, when we get our lives back, when the people outside — you think they want to be here, Mr. Speaker?”

“Those people don’t want to be here,” she said. “They want to be working. But that right was taken away from them. When is there going to be a plan from this prime minister? When is there going to be compassionate leadership to say, ‘This is it. You’ve done the work. Here’s the tools. We’re moving forward.’ Our public health doctors have told us as well, it’s time to move forward, it’s time to revisit these harsh mandates and divisive policies.”

“Mr. Speaker, I will just end on this and — I’m very passionate about this, I think we all are from our different perspectives, but I will say, I will continue to be a bridge builder to reach out, to try to understand where others are coming from, and I would — I would — it would just be incredible if we could see members of the Liberal Party, the Prime Minister, do the same,” she concluded. “Time to build a bridge, Mr. Speaker.”

Far from being a bridge builder, Justin Trudeau had made incendiary statements and threatened the Freedom Convoy with state force if they did not end their peaceful protests.

“Individuals are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy, and our fellow citizens’ daily lives,” Trudeau said. “It has to stop.”

Trudeau also shows no willingness to lift the vaccine mandates, signaling ominously that they are preventing more coercive measures.

“I can understand frustrations with mandates, but mandates are the way to avoid further restrictions,” he stated.

Trudeau is only just beginning to understand people’s frustrations as both police and politicians defect around him.

2 Tiered Justice System, Bad Cops, corruption

Capitol Police Accused Of Spying on Members Of Congress, Staffers

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Cullen McCue  
February 8th, 2022

The inspector general for the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) has opened a formal investigation into whether the law enforcement agency has been inappropriately surveilling elected members of Congress, their staff, and visitors to their offices. USCP Chief J. Thomas Manger confirmed the opening of the inspector general investigation in his response to congressional inquiries about USCP police tactics.

According to an article from Politico, the USCP intelligence unit has been compiling information on individuals who meet with lawmakers. Among those who have been subject to new Capitol Police scrutiny are Congressional staffers, three separate sources told Politico. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.  Most of those surveilled by the UCSP have not committed or been accused of a crime, but the agency argues the measures are necessary, citing the 2021 U.S. Capitol protests, which the UCSP refers to as an “insurrection.”

Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) said in an interview that he is unaware of any members who know about the “very, very bad” practice.  “Whatever they think that sounds like for security, it sounds dangerously close — if not already over the line — to spying on members of Congress, their staff, their constituents and their supporters,” said Armstrong. “Anybody involved with implementing this without making it known to the actual members of Congress should resign or be fired immediately,” he added.

Per Politico, analysts in the department’s intelligence division have put together documents called Congressional Event Assessments for years. That process entails the House and Senate Sergeants at Arms, Congress’ chambers’ internal logistical and security leaders sharing information with Capitol Police on lawmakers’ plans for meetings and events away from the Capitol. After the Capitol protests, analysts were instructed to look closely at the people meeting privately and publicly with members. The changes were implemented by former Department of Homeland Security official Julie Farnam, who joined the unit in fall of 2020.

Farnam’s new template instructed analysts to scour the social media feeds of individuals who meet with lawmakers or attend their events. It also told Capitol Police analysts to search for information about lawmakers’ opponents and their opponents’ supporters. “List and search all political opponents to see if they or their followers intend to attend or disrupt the event,” reads the template, according to Politico.

The Capitol Police defended their practices in a statement. “The more public information we have, the better we can understand what kind and how much security is necessary.”

On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) accused the Capitol Police of entering his office and photographing confidential legislative information. “On November 20th, 2021, Capitol Police entered my office without my knowledge and photographed confidential legislative products protected by the Speech and Debate clause enshrined in the Constitution, Article 1 Section 6,” Nells wrote in a tweet.

According to Nehls, USCP intelligence agents again tried to gain entry to his office two days later while Congress was in recess. “Upon discovering a member of my staff, special agents dressed like construction workers began to question him as to the contents of a photograph taken illegally two days earlier,” Nells wrote in a follow-up tweet. “They had no authority to photograph my office, let alone investigate myself or members of my staff. So, why is the Capitol Police Leadership maliciously investigating me in an attempt to destroy me and my character?”

According to The Federalist, an IG investigation has been opened at the behest of Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger. “The inspector general is independent, so we cannot comment on his behalf,” a USCP spokesman told The Federalist. “But the chief has requested such a review as he is confident the USCP security assessments are legal, appropriate, and strictly limited to gathering basic information about events to ensure the safety of members of Congress.”

2 Tiered Justice System, Bad Cops, Controversy

Canada Police Threaten People Bringing Supplies to Freedom Convoy with Arrest

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Jack Davis, The Western Journal
February 7th, 2022

Ottawa police have warned supporters of the Freedom Convoy that anyone helping the truckers protesting vaccine mandates could be arrested.

The warning came in a Twitter post issued shortly before 2 p.m. Eastern time that declared: “IMPORTANT: Anyone attempting to bring material supports (gas, etc.) to the demonstrators could be subject to arrest. Enforcement is underway.”

Earlier Sunday, Ottawa police announced via Twitter that more than 450 tickets had been issued since Saturday morning as part of an effort to “reduce the impacts of demonstrators in the downtown core.”

“Overnight, demonstrators exhibited extremely disruptive and unlawful behavior, which presented risks to public safety and unacceptable distress for Ottawa residents,” police said in a statement, according to The Washington Post.

An estimated 500 vehicles remain in Ottawa, according to Fox News. The Freedom Convoy, which began in British Columbia, was developed as a protest against vaccine mandates. Organizers have not said when the protest will end.

“Let me assure the people of Ottawa that we have no intent to stay one day longer than necessary,” Tamara Lich, one of the convoy’s organizers, told reporters last week, according to the Post. “Our departure will be based on the prime minister doing what is right: Ending all mandates and restrictions on our freedoms.”

Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly called the protest “a siege.”

“It is something that is different in our democracy than I’ve ever experienced in my life,” he said Saturday, according to the Post.

“The demonstrators … remain highly organized, well-funded, extremely committed to resisting all attempts to end the demonstrations safely. This remains, as it was from the beginning, an increasingly volatile and increasingly dangerous demonstration.”

A report in the Ottawa Citizen said that Ontario Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said that policing the protest  “is a responsibility carried out by local police services across Ontario, who have the resources and authority to ensure their communities remain safe. Politicians at all levels cannot direct the police. To be clear: police services, including the Ottawa Police Service, have full discretion and extensive existing legislative authority under the Criminal Code to respond to and manage demonstrations and take enforcement action, as appropriate, against any individuals committing crimes in their jurisdiction.”

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson felt differently about the protest.

“The situation at this point is completely out of control, because the individuals with the protest are calling the shots,” he said in a radio interview Sunday, according to the Ottawa Citizen. “They have far more people than we have police officers, and I’ve indicated to the chief that we have to be much more nimble and proactive when it comes to these activities.”

Former President Donald Trump on Friday issued a statement in support of the truckers.

“The Freedom Convoy is peacefully protesting the harsh policies of far-left lunatic Justin Trudeau who has destroyed Canada with insane Covid mandates,” Trump said in his statement.

The statement scolded efforts to block a similar convoy in America from using social media to organize. On Wednesday, Facebook removed the personal account of a man organizing a “Convoy to D.C. 2022,” according to Fox News.

“Now, thankfully, the Freedom Convoy could be coming to DC with American Truckers who want to protest Biden’s ridiculous Covid policies. Facebook is canceling the accounts of Freedom Convoy USA, and GoFundMe is denying access to funds that belong to the Freedom Convoy. This is unacceptable and extremely dangerous in any country that values free expression,” Trump’s statement said.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

Bad Cops, Independent Media, Notable Occurrence

Cops Investigated Themselves, Found They Did Nothing Wrong When Dragging Paraplegic Man From Car By His Hair

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By Matt Agorist
January 16th, 2022

Dayton, OH — As TFTP reported in September, Clifford Owensby of Dayton, Ohio learned the violent and oppressive lengths the American police state will go to enforce window tint extortion laws. Owensby, who had committed no crime, was targeted by police, assaulted, and then sent on his way because of the arbitrary darkness of his window tint. Days later, body camera footage was released by police, showing just how brutal cops are willing to be over the darkness of a man’s windows — and skin too.

Owensby filed a complaint with the Professional Standards Bureau of the Dayton Police Department (DPD), who launched an investigation in October. Now, after “investigating” themselves for the last three months, police have come to the conclusion that officers did nothing wrong.

The report from the investigation determined Owensby’s allegations that officers threatened violence and mocked him were “unfounded” in spite of their violence captured on video.

The officer’s “pulling of Mr. Owensby’s hair may have been visually offensive to some people, but in reality the hair-pulling was on the low end of the force spectrum and did not cause injury,” investigators found. “Mr. Owensby was removed to Grandview Medical Center where it was confirmed he was not injured during the incident.”

The officers faced no discipline in spite of turning off their body cameras and mocking Owensby which was recorded on a supervisor’s body camera. Investigators did, however, recommend more training as there is no policy in place that dealt with “how to best transport a disabled subject,” the review stated.

“I am always in favor or more training,” said James Willis, Owensby’s attorney. But in this case, he thinks the officers should have been terminated.

“I think the officers should be fired,” Willis said. “They are truly incompetent.”

The city’s mayor, Jeffrey J. Mims, released a statement Tuesday saying that residents “should feel that they are treated with dignity and respect, and I know that the incident between (Owensby) and Dayton Police fell short of that standard.”

Indeed, as the body camera footage of the incident is nothing short of disgusting.

Owensby’s nightmare started when he and his grandson were out running errands. As Owensby was driving down the street, harming no one, police targeted him for extortion because his window tint was at 20 percent. The interaction was captured on both body camera footage and cellphone footage.

As the video shows, an officer approaches the vehicle and tells the innocent father that his window tint is too dark before later demanding that he exit the vehicle so a drug dog and smell his car.

Owensby then explained to the officer that he couldn’t get out of the vehicle as he didn’t have his wheelchair and had gotten help getting in the car.

“I’m paraplegic,” Owensby says multiple times. “I got help getting in.”

“Well, I’ll help you get out,” the officer replies.

Continue Reading HERE

Bad Cops, Independent Media, Investigative Journalism

Latest Information Shows the FBI Continues to Try to Hide Facts About the Murder of Seth Rich

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Larry Johnson
January 11, 2022

This year marks the sixth anniversary of the murder of DNC staffer, Seth Rich, by unknown assailants on July 14, 2016. For more than four years the FBI insisted that it was never involved actively in the investigation of Seth Rich’s murder and that it never opened a case. That lie was exposed in December 2020 thanks to the dogged legal work of Ty Clevenger when the FBI conceded:

FBI has completed the initial search identifying approximately 50 cross-reference serials, with attachments totaling over 20,000 pages, in which Seth Rich is mentioned.  FBI has also located leads that indicate additional potential records that require further searching. . . . FBI is also currently working on getting the files from Seth Rich’s personal laptop into a format to be reviewed. As you can imagine, there are thousands of files of many types. The goal right now is to describe, generally, the types of files/personal information contained in this computer.


This was a stunning admission and raises critical questions that are still unanswered. Why did the FBI open a case on the murder of a DNC staffer that was not a Federal crime? If Rich really was the victim of a street robbery/mugging gone wrong, there is no reason for the FBI to get involved. More telling, why did the FBI’s Counter Intelligence Division (i.e., Peter Strzok) get involved?

More than a year has passed and the FBI continues to stonewall producing the material it is required to produce. Ty Clevenger now represents Brian Huddleston, a Texan who sued the FBI under Freedom of Information law for the agency’s refusal to promptly turn over public documents in the case. Ty’s anger is focused on four key elements:
In this very litigation, after long denying that it investigated anything pertaining to Seth Rich, the FBI was finally forced to admit that it took possession of his personal and work laptops.
I would further direct your attention to the deposition testimony of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sy Hersh, wherein he testified that a source inside the government told him that the FBI had examined Seth Rich’s laptop.

The FBI failed to conduct a search of the Operational Technology Division (OTD) and the Data Intercept Technology Unit (DITU). These two units would have documents/evidence of contacts between Seth Rich and Wikileaks.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his investigation claimed there was no evidence that Seth Rich was involved in sharing Democratic National Committee emails with Wikileaks, but the failure to conduct a search of OTD and DITU means that Mueller’s team did not examine relevant evidence.

Here is the full exchange of emails the latest communication between Clevenger and Andrea Parker, a representative from the Department of Justice.

From: Ty Clevenger
Sent: Monday, December 27, 2021 10:06 AM
To: Parker, Andrea (USATXE)
Subject: [EXTERNAL] 4:20-447 (Huddleston)

Andrea,

I recently became aware of two FBI units in Quantico that may have information pertaining to Seth Rich and/or Aaron Rich: the Operational Technology Division (OTD) and the Data Intercept Technology Unit (DITU). As I understand it, the Vaughn index indicates only that only FBI headquarters and the Washington Field Office were searched.

Would you ask the FBI to clarify whether OTD and DITU were searched? And if not, would the FBI be willing to search OTD and DITU? Thank you.

On Monday, December 27, 2021, 10:19:24 AM CST, Parker, Andrea (USATXE) <andrea.parker@usdoj.gov> wrote:

I’ll check and let you know. I’m not sure how much response I will get this week.

Andrea

 

From: Ty Clevenger
Sent: Tuesday, January 4, 2022 1:02 PM
To: Parker, Andrea (USATXE)
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] 4:20-447 (Huddleston)

Did you hear back from the FBI about this? Or from CRM about the judicial records?

On Tuesday, January 4, 2022, 01:51:58 PM CST, Parker, Andrea (USATXE) wrote:

Yes, as to your first question, FBI’s response is as follows:

“FBI found no leads to indicate that records responsive to Plaintiff’s requests concerning subject, Seth Rich, would likely exist in OTD and DITU. Accordingly, if Plaintiff is able to provide a more concrete lead to show that records likely exist in either OTD and/or DITU relating to Seth Rich, we would consider conducting a search of those locations. However, at this time such a search of these locations for records relating to Seth Rich is not warranted without a concrete lead indicating that records would likely exist within OTD and DITU. Concerning Aaron Rich, the requester does not have a signed privacy waiver for Aaron Rich, so the FBI’s prior 6/7C response remains intact and no search would be conducted concerning him in either of these locations.”

Remind me what the issue is with CRM and judicial records?

Andrea,

My frustration is not directed toward you in any way, but I am stunned by the FBI’s latest admissions. I’ll begin with the admission that the FBI failed to search the Operational Technology Division (“OTD”). Paragraph 8 of Michael Seidel’s affidavit acknowledges that my client’s FOIA request specifically covered the “Computer Analysis Response Team (‘CART’), and any other ‘cyber’ unit within the FBI.”

According to publicly-available sources, e.g., the FBI’s own website, CART is a part of ODT. See https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2008/november/techexperts_110708. In fact, the LinkedIn page of John Dysart, the current chief of CART, notes that CART is part of ODT. Seehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/john-dysart-20056363/. Furthermore, ODT itself is unequivocally a “’cyber’ unit within the FBI.” See https://www.fbi.gov/services/operational-technology.

Mr. Seidel should have come clean and admitted up front in his declaration that ODT / CART was not searched, rather than forcing me to smoke him out. Then again, this not the first time I’ve caught an FBI section chief being deceptive in response to a FOIA request.

In this very litigation, after long denying that it investigated anything pertaining to Seth Rich, the FBI was finally forced to admit that it took possession of his personal and work laptops.  ODT would have been responsible for examining those laptops. We know this because, for example, ODT was responsible for examining the laptop of disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner when it was referred to the FBI by the New York Police Department. See p. 388 of the DOJ inspector general report on the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails (https://www.scribd.com/document/381806566/IG-Report-on-FBI-and-DOJ-Handling-of-Clinton-Investigation).

I would further direct your attention to the deposition testimony of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sy Hersh, wherein he testified that a source inside the government told him that the FBI had examined Seth Rich’s laptop. A link to that transcript can be found on my blog at https://lawflog.com/?p=2433. Obviously, our targeted FOIA request about CART was not based on a blind hunch.

Even if the FBI did not examine Seth Rich’s laptops, that would be very important information in and of itself.  In Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his investigation, he claimed there was no evidence that Seth Rich was involved in sharing Democratic National Committee emails with Wikileaks. We know from the records already produced that the FBI conducted that investigation at Mr. Mueller’s direction. If the FBI took custody of Mr. Rich’s laptops but never examined those laptops, then that would call into question the integrity of the investigation conducted by Mr. Mueller and the FBI.

The existence of the DITU is not a secret, and it certainly is not classified. See, e.g., Thomas Brewster, “Revealed: Two Secret Cogs In The FBI National Surveillance Machine,” February 21, 2018 Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2018/02/21/fbi-hidden-hacking-groups-revealed/?sh=4e1a8c51330f; and Shane Harris, “Meet the Spies Doing the NSA’s Dirty Work,” November 21, 2013 Foreign Policy, https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/11/21/meet-the-spies-doing-the-nsas-dirty-work/. Furthermore, an email previously released by the FBI in response to a FOIA request plainly references DITU (because it was sent by the acting unit chief of DITU). See https://www.eff.org/files/fbi_cipav-08-p9.pdf. In short, there is no legitimate basis for trying to shield DITU.

As noted above, Mr. Mueller claimed there was no evidence that Mr. Rich transmitted emails to Wikileaks. According to the publicly-available sources cited above, DITU is the entity responsible for electronic data intercepts, therefore its database would be the place to search for communications between Mr. Rich and an overseas entity such as Wikileaks. If the FBI and Mr. Mueller failed to search DITU, that fact alone is something that the public deserves to know, because it would show that the investigation was a sham.

Finally, I will address the FBI’s claim that Aaron Rich’s identity is subject to privacy protections. Aaron Rich has spoken very publicly about the matters pertaining to my client’s FOIA request. See, e.g., Michael Isikioff, “’It is indescribable’: How a harassment campaign overwhelmed Seth Rich’s friends and family,” August 6, 2019 Yahoo!News, https://www.yahoo.com/now/it-is-indescribable-how-a-harassment-campaign-overwhelmed-seth-richs-friends-and-family-100000936.html. An Asst. U.S. Attorney testified that she obtained at least one of Seth Rich’s laptops from Aaron Rich. A transcript of her testimony is posted on my blog. See March 20, 2020 Deposition of Deborah Sines, https://lawflog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2020.03.20-Deborah-Sines-deposition-transcript.pdf. Finally, Aaron Rich sued one of my client’s in federal court, alleging that he was defamed because my client alleged that he played a role in leaking DNC emails to Wikileaks. See Rich v. Butowsky et al, Case No. 18-cv-00681-RJL (D.D.C.). Under the circumstances, Aaron Rich has no privacy interest to protect.

My client is trying to determine whether Mr. Mueller and the FBI whitewashed a murder for the sake of a partisan political agenda. Thus far, the FBI has bent itself over backwards to hide information about Seth Rich, with senior FBI personnel trying to deceive U.S. district courts in Texas and New York. The longer this chicanery continues, the greater the evidence that the FBI is indeed whitewashing a murder for the sake of politics.

Bad Cops, corruption, Crimes Against Children, Epstein/Maxwell, Notable Occurrence

Ghislaine Maxwell Trial: Evidence from Jeffrey Epstein’s Safe Went Missing Following FBI Raid

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Jim Hoft
December 19, 2021

In July 2019 the FBI raided Jeffrey Epstein’s home in New York City. The FBI agents found damning information and evidence throughout his 7-story residence. The evidence included “numerous black binders” with white labels that had “clear pages containing thumbnail photos with CDs attached.”

FBI agents also found several items in a safe including “binders with CDs, various items of jewelry, external hard drives, lose diamonds, large amounts of U.S. currency and passports.”

The FBI later said the evidence in the safe went missing. Chris Wray’s FBI said they went back a few days later and the evidence had disappeared.

** The same FBI that ran a coup against the sitting US president based on completely made-up opposition party nonsense wants the American public to believe the Epstein evidence went missing and they had nothing to do with it.

** The same FBI that raided hundreds of homes of US patriots with dozens of armed agents this year for walking inside or near the US Capitol on January 6th, wants you to believe they had nothing to do with this missing evidence — after they were the last ones to see it.

** The same group that believes Antifa is an idea but Trump supporters and conservative working Americans are domestic terrorists want you to believe they did not disappear the Epstein evidence.

So the FBI went inside his home and took photos but did not confiscate the evidence?

Does anybody buy this?

FOX News reported:

The witness told the tale of how the FBI searched Epstein’s $77 million New York home to the jurors. The agents buzzed but after no answer, they forced their entry to the residence and started performing a protective sweep to make sure there was no threat to them.

On the third floor, in a dressing room, they found a safe that they pulled out from a closet and brought in a saw to open it. There were several items in it that the FBI photographed such as more “binders with CDs, various items of jewelry, external hard-drives, lose diamonds, large amounts of U.S. currency and passports.” However, they needed a second search warrant in order to retrieve those items. So, they returned a few days later, except that the items that had been removed from the safe were missing. An attorney for Epstein then returned all the items to the agents.

Bad Cops, Crimes Against Children, Independent Media, Investigative Journalism

Massive Child Sex Trafficking Ring Busted, Ran for Decades, Protected By Police in Exchange for Sex

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Matt Agorist 
December 18, 2021

Queens, NY — Six sex traffickers were arrested this week for running a Queens-based sex trafficking ring that trafficked young women and children from Mexico into the US. One of those indicted in Brooklyn federal court was a Putnam County police officer who was protecting, not the children, but the child sex traffickers — in exchange for sex.

Wayne Peiffer, a Village of Brewster police officer has been helping human traffickers smuggle in children and younger women from Mexico for years. The sadistic human smuggling scheme has been in operation for nearly two decades since at least 2002, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

According to the indictment, Peiffer protected the child sex trafficking ring in exchange for sex with the victims. For years, Peiffer helped the ring avoid arrests, tipped them off to stings, and allowed them to abuse children and young women by exploiting the trust in his badge.

According to the complaint, in exchange for the protection, Peiffer had his way with the trafficking victims, even bringing them to the police station where he would rape them.

For more than eight years, Peiffer allegedly directed members of the Cid-Hernandez Sex Trafficking Organization and the Godinez Prostitution Business to deliver women to him, including at the BPD police station, so that he could engage in sexual activity with the women at no cost to Peiffer.  In exchange, Peiffer provided the Cid-Hernandez Sex Trafficking Organization and the Godinez Prostitution Business protection from arrest, including by advanced warning of law enforcement operations and intervening to prevent arrest.

“The individuals named in the indictment were part of an elaborate network of conspirators that used deception and coercion to sell dreams of a better life in the United States to young and impressionable women, who arrived only to be forced into a miserable life of torment, sexual abuse and prostitution at the hands of their captors,” stated HSI Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Ricky J. Patel.  “The criminal organization also allegedly retained the services of a corrupt cop, who betrayed the badge and the people that he swore to protect by being complicit in these deplorable acts and accepting payments in sexual favors.”

Sadly, many victims of sex trafficking have similar stories of police officers protecting their captors.

TFTP covered a shocking report from the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women paints that painted a disturbing picture of law enforcement and their role in sex trafficking. The report found that instead of preventing child and adult sex trafficking, many police officers are participating in it.

The report is titled “Sex Trafficking in Hawaii: The Stories of Survivors,” which detailed the testimonials from multiple victims. One particularly disturbing part of the report was the fact that almost half of all the victims interviewed reported that police officers participated in their abuse and victimization.

“The corruption of members of the criminal justice system reported by the participants in the study was pervasive in their stories of being prostituted,” the report noted.

The report found that the average age of those being trafficked is just 14-years-old, showing how early the abuse began.

One of the victims interviewed, who wished to remain anonymous for obvious reasons explained that “the same people that are charging you for prostitution are the people turning around and buying it from you.”

While the idea that police officers are abusing victims of sex trafficking may seem outlandish to some, it should come as no surprise to those who’ve been paying attention.

Police officers using their power to exploit human trafficking victims is a common thread among many cases. On multiple occasions, the Free Thought Project has reported interviews of former child sex trafficking victims who’ve all noted that they had nowhere to go as police and high-level politicians all participated in the abuse.

In case after case, the Free Thought Project reports on horrifying instances of child sex rings that were allowed to go on for decades because politicians — including heads of states — policemen, clergy, and others were all in on the sick game.

Bad Cops, corruption, deep state, Intelligence Community, Investigative Journalism, law

THE SWAMP TAKES CARE OF ITS OWN: DC Bar Restores Convicted FBI Russiagate Forger Kevin Clinesmith While Still on Probation

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Paul Sperry,
December 17th, 2021

A former senior FBI lawyer who falsified a surveillance document in the Trump-Russia investigation has been restored as a member in “good standing” by the District of Columbia Bar Association even though he has yet to finish serving out his probation as a convicted felon, according to disciplinary records obtained by RealClearInvestigations.

The move is the latest in a series of exceptions the bar has made for Kevin Clinesmith, who pleaded guilty in August 2020 to doctoring an email used to justify a surveillance warrant targeting former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

Clinesmith was sentenced to 12 months probation last January. But the D.C. Bar did not seek his disbarment, as is customary after lawyers are convicted of serious crimes involving the administration of justice. In this case, it did not even initiate disciplinary proceedings against him until February of this year — five months after he pleaded guilty and four days after RealClearInvestigations first reported he had not been disciplined.

After the negative publicity, the bar temporarily suspended Clinesmith pending a review and hearing. Then in September, the court that oversees the bar and imposes sanctions agreed with its recommendation to let Clinesmith off suspension with time served; the bar, in turn, restored his status to “active member” in “good standing.”

Before quietly making that decision, however, records indicate the bar did not check with his probation officer to see if he had violated the terms of his sentence or if he had completed the community service requirement of volunteering 400 hours.

To fulfill the terms of his probation, Clinesmith volunteered at Street Sense Media in Washington but stopped working at the nonprofit group last summer, which has not been previously reported. “I can confirm he was a volunteer here,” Street Sense editorial director Eric Falquero told RCI, without elaborating about how many hours he worked. Clinesmith had helped edit and research articles for the weekly newspaper, which coaches the homeless on how to “sleep on the streets” and calls for a “universal living wage” and prison reform.

Special Counsel Could Still Be Investigating Clinesmith

From the records, it also appears bar officials did not consult with the FBI’s Inspection Division, which has been debriefing Clinesmith to determine if he was involved in any other surveillance abuses tied to Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants, in addition to the one used against Page. Clinesmith’s cooperation was one of the conditions of the plea deal he struck with Special Counsel John Durham. If he fails to fully cooperate, including turning over any relevant materials or records in his possession, he could be subject to perjury or obstruction charges.

Clinesmith — who was assigned to some of the FBI’s most sensitive and high-profile investigations — may still be in Durham’s sights regarding other areas of his wide-ranging probe.

The scope of his mandate as special counsel is broader than commonly understood: In addition to examining the legal justification for the FBI’s “Russiagate” probe, it also includes examining the bureau’s handling of the inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s use of an unsecured email server, which she set up in her basement to send and receive classified information, and her destruction of more than 30,000 subpoenaed emails she generated while running the State Department. As assistant FBI general counsel in the bureau’s national security branch, Clinesmith played an instrumental role in that investigation, which was widely criticized by FBI and Justice Department veterans, along with ethics watchdogs, as fraught with suspicious irregularities.

Clinesmith also worked on former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into the 2016 Trump campaign as the key attorney linking his office to the FBI. He was the only headquarters lawyer assigned to Mueller. Durham’s investigators are said to be looking into the Mueller team’s actions as well.

The D.C. Bar’s treatment of Clinesmith, a registered Democrat who sent anti-Trump rants to FBI colleagues after the Republican was elected, has raised questions from the start. Normally the bar automatically suspends the license of members who plead guilty to a felony. But in Clinesmith’s case, it delayed suspending him on even an interim basis for several months and only acted after RCI revealed the break Clinesmith was given, records confirm.

Repeated Irregularities in Clinesmith’s Case

It then allowed him to negotiate his fate, which is rarely done in any misconduct investigation, let alone one involving a serious crime, according to a review of past cases. It also overlooked violations of its own rules: Clinesmith apparently broke the bar’s rule requiring reporting his guilty plea “promptly” to the court — within 10 days of entering it — and failed to do so for five months, reveal transcripts of a July disciplinary hearing obtained by RCI.

“I did not see evidence that you informed the court,” Rebecca Smith, the chairwoman of the D.C. Bar panel conducting the hearing, admonished Clinesmith.

“[T]hat was frankly just an error,” Clinesmith’s lawyer stepped in to explain.

Smith also scolded the bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel for the “delay” in reporting the offense, since it negotiated the deal with Clinesmith, pointing out: “Disciplinary counsel did not report the plea to the court and initiate a disciplinary proceeding.” Bill Ross, the assistant disciplinary counsel who represented the office at the hearing, argued Clinesmith shouldn’t be held responsible and blamed the oversight on the COVID pandemic.

The Democrat-controlled panel, known as the Board on Professional Responsibility, nonetheless gave Clinesmith a pass, rubberstamping the light sentence he negotiated with the bar’s chief prosecutor, Disciplinary Counsel Hamilton “Phil” Fox, while admitting it was “unusual.” Federal Election Commission records show Fox, a former Watergate prosecutor, is a major donor to Democrats, including former President Obama. All three members of the board also are Democratic donors, FEC data reveal.

Contrasting Action Taken by Michigan Bar

While the D.C. Bar delayed taking any action against Clinesmith, the Michigan Bar, where he is also licensed, automatically suspended him the day he pleaded guilty. And on Sept. 30, records show, the Michigan Bar’s attorney discipline board suspended Clinesmith for two years, from the date of his guilty plea through Aug. 19, 2022, and fined him $1,037.

“[T]he panel found that respondent engaged in conduct that was prejudicial to the proper administration of justice [and] exposed the legal profession or the courts to obloquy, contempt, censure or reproach,” the board ruled against Clinesmith, adding that his misconduct “was contrary to justice, ethics, honesty or good morals; violated the standards or rules of professional conduct adopted by the Supreme Court; and violated a criminal law of the United States.”

Normally, bars arrange what’s called “reciprocal discipline” for unethical attorneys licensed in their jurisdictions. But this was not done in the case of Clinesmith. The D.C. Bar decided to go much easier on the former FBI attorney, further raising suspicions the anti-Trump felon was given favorable treatment.

In making the bar’s case not to strip Clinesmith of his license or effectively punish him going forward, Fox disregarded key findings by Durham about Clinesmith’s intent to deceive the FISA court as a government attorney who held a position of trust.

Clinesmith Pled Guilty to Falsifying Records

Clinesmith confessed to creating a false document by changing the wording in a June 2017 CIA email to state Page was “not a source” for the CIA when in fact the agency had told Clinesmith and the FBI on multiple occasions Page had been providing information about Russia to it for years — a revelation that, if disclosed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, would have undercut the FBI’s case for electronically monitoring Page as a supposed Russian agent and something that Durham noted Clinesmith understood all too well.

Bar records show Fox simply took Clinesmith’s word that he believed the change in wording was accurate and that in making it, he mistakenly took a “shortcut” to save time and had no intent to deceive the court or the case agents preparing the application for the warrant.

Durham demonstrated that Clinesmith certainly did intend to mislead the FISA court. “By his own words, it appears that the defendant falsified the email in order to conceal [Page’s] former status as a source and to avoid making an embarrassing disclosure to the FISC,” the special prosecutor asserted in his 20-page memo to the sentencing judge, in which he urged a prison term of up to six months for Clinesmith. “Such a disclosure would have drawn a strong and hostile response from the FISC for not disclosing it sooner [in earlier warrant applications].”

As proof of Clinesmith’s intent to deceive, Durham cited an internal message Clinesmith sent the FBI agent preparing the application, who relied on Clinesmith to tell him what the CIA said about Page. “At least we don’t have to have a terrible footnote” explaining that Page was a source for the CIA in the application, Clinesmith wrote.

The FBI lawyer also removed the initial email he sent to the CIA inquiring about Page’s status as a source before forwarding the CIA email to another FBI agent, blinding him to the context of the exchange about Page.

Durham also noted that Clinesmith repeatedly changed his story after the Justice Department’s watchdog first confronted him with the altered email during an internal 2019 investigation. What’s more, he falsely claimed his CIA contact told him in phone calls that Page was not a source, conversations the contact swore never happened.

Clinesmith Was Politically Biased at the FBI

Fox also maintained that Clinesmith had no personal motive in forging the document. But Durham cited virulently anti-Trump political messages Clinesmith sent to other FBI employees after Trump won in 2016 – including a battle cry to “fight” Trump and his policies – and argued that his clear political bias may have led to his criminal misconduct.

“It is plausible that his strong political views and/or personal dislike of [Trump] made him more willing to engage in the fraudulent and unethical conduct to which he has pled guilty,” Durham told U.S. District Judge Jeb Boasberg.

Boasberg, a Democrat appointed by President Obama, spared Clinesmith jail time and let him serve out his probation from home. Fox and the D.C. Bar sided with Boasberg, who accepted Clinesmith’s claim he did not intentionally deceive the FISA court, which Boasberg happens to preside over, and even offered an excuse for his criminal conduct.

“My view of the evidence is that Mr. Clinesmith likely believed that what he said about Mr. Page was true,” Boasberg said. “By altering the email, he was saving himself some work and taking an inappropriate shortcut.”

Fox echoed the judge’s reasoning in essentially letting Clinesmith off the hook. (The deal they struck, which the U.S. District Court of Appeals that oversees the bar approved in September, called for a one-year suspension, but the suspension began retroactively in August 2020, which made it meaningless.) Boasberg opined that Clinesmith had “already suffered” punishment by losing his FBI job and $150,000 salary.

But, Boasberg assumed, wrongly as it turned out, that Clinesmith also faced possible disbarment. ”And who knows where his earnings go now,” the judge sympathized. “He may be disbarred or suspended from the practice of law.”

Anticipating such a punishment, Boasberg waived a recommended fine of up to $10,000, arguing that Clinesmith couldn’t afford it. He also waived the regular drug testing usually required during probation, while returning Clinesmith’s passport. And he gave his blessing to Clinesmith’s request to serve out his probation as a volunteer journalist, before wishing him well: “Mr. Clinesmith, best of luck to you.”

FBI Should Have Much Higher Standards

Fox did not respond to requests for comment. But he argued in a petition to the board that his deal with Clinesmith was “not unduly lenient,” because it was comparable to sanctions imposed in similar cases. However, none of the cases he cited involved the FBI, Justice Department or FISA court. One case involved a lawyer who made false statements to obtain construction permits, while another made false statements to help a client become a naturalized citizen – a far cry from falsifying evidence to spy on an American citizen.

Durham noted that in providing the legal support for a warrant application to the secret FISA court, Clinesmith had “a heightened duty of candor,” since FISA targets do not have legal representation before the court. He argued Clinesmith’s offense was “a very serious crime with significant repercussions” and suggested it made him unfit to practice law.

“An attorney – particularly an attorney in the FBI’s Office of General Counsel – is the last person that FBI agents or this court should expect to create a false document,” Durham said.

The warrant Clinesmith helped obtain has since been deemed invalid and the surveillance of Page illegal. Never charged with a crime, Page is now suing the FBI and Justice Department for $75 million for violating his constitutional rights against improper searches and seizures.

Explaining the D.C. Bar’s disciplinary process in a 2019 interview with Washington Lawyer magazine, Fox said that “the lawyer has the burden of proving they are fit to practice again. Have they accepted responsibility for their conduct?” His office’s website said a core function is to “deter attorneys from engaging in misconduct.”

In the same interview, Fox maintained that he tries to insulate his investigative decisions from political bias. “I try to make sure our office is not used as a political tool,” he said. “We don’t want to be a political tool for the Democrats or Republicans.”

Bar records from the Clinesmith case show Fox suggested the now-discredited Trump-Russia “collusion” investigation was “a legitimate and highly important investigation.”

Protecting People Who Hurt Trump

One longstanding member of the D.C. Bar with direct knowledge of Clinesmith’s case before the bar suspects its predominantly Democratic board went soft on him due to partisan politics. “The District of Columbia is a very liberal bar,” he said. “Basically, they went light on him because he’s also a Democrat who hated Trump.”

Meanwhile, the D.C. Bar has not initiated disciplinary proceedings against Michael Sussmann, another Washington attorney charged by Durham. Records show Sussmann remains an “active member” of the bar in “good standing,” which also has not been previously reported. The former Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer, who recently resigned from Washington-based Perkins Coie LLP, is accused of lying to federal investigators about his client while passing off a report falsely linking Trump to the Kremlin.

While Sussmann has pleaded not guilty and has yet to face trial, criminal grand jury indictments usually prompt disciplinary proceedings and interim suspensions.

Paul Kamenar of the National Legal and Policy Center, a government ethics watchdog, has called for the disbarment of both Clinesmith and Sussmann. He noted that the D.C. Court of Appeals must automatically disbar an attorney who commits a crime of moral turpitude, which includes crimes involving the “administration of justice.”

“Clinesmith pled guilty to a felony. The only appropriate sanction for committing a serious felony that also interfered with the proper administration of justice and constituted misrepresentation, fraud and moral turpitude, is disbarment,” he said. “Anything less would minimize the seriousness of the misconduct” and fail to deter other offenders.

Disciplinary Counsel Fox appears to go tougher on Republican bar members. For example, he recently opened a formal investigation of former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, whom records show Fox put under “temporary disciplinary suspension” pending the outcome of the ethics probe, which is separate from the one being conducted by the New York bar. In July, the New York Bar also suspended the former GOP mayor on an interim basis.

Giuliani has not been convicted of a crime or even charged with one.

This article is republished from RealClearInvestigations