{"id":2064,"date":"2018-12-20T21:53:50","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T01:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lawflog.com\/?p=2064"},"modified":"2018-12-21T22:56:38","modified_gmt":"2018-12-22T02:56:38","slug":"fbi-releases-transcripts-from-james-comey-investigation-refuses-to-release-other-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawflog.com\/?p=2064","title":{"rendered":"FBI releases transcripts from James Comey investigation, refuses to release other records"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fifteen months after I made a Freedeom of Information Act request to the FBI and Office of Special Counsel, and nine months after I filed suit<\/a> to get the records that I requested, the FBI has finally produced transcripts from OSC’s investigation of FBI Director James Comey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You may recall that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley blew a gasket<\/a> when he found out the FBI required OSC to sign a non-disclosure agreement that purportedly would have prevented OSC from sharing information with Congress about the investigation. [Note: the OSC in question has nothing to do with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but is a standalone agency<\/a> that was investigating allegations that Mr. Comey violated the Hatch Act when he interfered in the 2016 Presidential election]. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Senator Grassley, I think it’s outrageous that an executive branch agency would try to \u201ccontract\u201d with another such agency to hide records from Congress and the public. On September 30, 2017, I served FOIA requests<\/a> on the FBI and OSC for the non-disclosure agreement (\u201cNDA\u201d) above, as well as all other NDAs that FBI and OSC had executed with other agencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Continued on Page 2…]<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

OSC sent me two unrelated NDAs (click here<\/a> and here<\/a>), but told me I had to get the Comey NDA directly from the FBI. The FBI, meanwhile, has refused to even search<\/em> for NDAs. Government transparency? Yeah, go pound sand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was a journalist in the 90s,\nmost of my colleagues would have been outraged by the fact the FBI is\nsigning contracts with other agencies to hide public records, then\nrefusing to produce the contracts that purport to hide the public\nrecords. Unfortunately, the rules have changed, and most journalists\ndon’t seem to care what federal law enforcement or intelligence\nagencies do so long as they’re trying to bring down Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frankly, I haven’t had time to analyze the redacted transcripts of Comey’s former chief of staff, James Rybicki, and the FBI’s second-ranking lawyer under Comey, Trisha B. Anderson, because I still have to work the day job. Nonetheless, you can download the Rybicki transcript by clicking here<\/a> and the Anderson transcript by clicking here<\/a>, and you can write your own analysis in the comments section below (or anywhere else you choose).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In related news, the FBI’s information\noffice is still refusing to ask the FBI Computer Analysis Response\nTeam (\u201cCART\u201d) about records related to unlocking the electronic\ndevices of murdered Democratic National Committee employee Seth Rich.\nIn contrast, the information office did<\/em> ask the FBI Washington\nField Office (\u201cWFO\u201d) whether it had records related to Mr. Rich,\nand WFO admitted that it offered its assistance to DC police. WFO\nclaims DC police declined the offer of assistance, yet there are no\nrecords \u2013 even emails or texts \u2013 regarding these communications.\nI find that hard to believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ll be asking the federal court in\nBrooklyn to order FBI officials to answer some specific questions\nunder oath about the NDAs, Seth Rich records, etc. Unfortunately, the\ncorrupt FBI leadership will have already achieved its objective,\ni.e.<\/em>, hiding information from the public until most of the\nmedia have lost interest. FBI Director Christopher Wray needs to get\nhis house in order quickly or President Trump needs to fire another\nFBI director.<\/p>\n

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