Avoiding The Chain Of Command To Commit Mischief

Yesterday The Daily Caller posted an article about some of the ways the investigation of the Clinton email avoided the normal processes of the FBI.

The most telling part of the article is the following chart showing how the chain of command was purposely avoided:

The article quotes the Inspector General’s Report:

Lisa Page, who was Special Counsel to McCabe, became involved in the Midyear investigation after McCabe became the Deputy Director in February 2016. Page told the OIG that part of her function was to serve as a liaison between the Midyear team and McCabe.

Page acknowledged that her role upset senior FBI officials, but told the OIG that McCabe relied on her to ensure that he had the information he needed to make decisions, without it being filtered through multiple layers of management.

Several witnesses told the OIG that Page circumvented the official chain of command, and that Strzok communicated important Midyear case information to her, and thus to McCabe, without Priestap’s or Steinbach’s knowledge. McCabe said that he was aware of complaints about Page, and that he valued her ability to “spot issues” and bring them to his attention when others did not.

The article notes why McCabe’s role is significant:

McCabe has been the subject of concerns about political bias in the FBI’s handling of the case because of his family’s ties to the Clintons. Around the time of the investigation, McCabe’s wife received $700,000 from Terry McAuliffe, a close friend of the Clintons who ran Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. The money was for McCabe’s wife to run for state senate, an unusual amount of money for that office.

Hopefully the Senate testimony expected in the near future will lead to some indictments and jail time for those involved in this corruption. If not, I see very little hope for the concept of equal justice under the law. It truly is time to drain the swamp. It just keeps smelling worse.