No American has been indicted for collusion with Russia

To The Daily Sun,

As the special council investigation drags on it is looking like the FBI is again going to interfere with a national election. I have been following the special council investigation closely since this could affect this country for decades to come. I had written two letters detailing how the FBI ignored facts and understated actions to exonerate Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election. I ask everyone to reread those letters.” My original letter (https://www.laconiadailysun.com/opinion/letters/can-fbi-investigate-itself-let-s-watch-and-find-out/article_301186ca-47f6-57d7-b850-87ee8fd29768.html) laid out why, in my opinion, I thought FBI director James Comey was in error when he exonerated Clinton in July, 2016. My second letter (https://www.laconiadailysun.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/read-these-reports-about-hillary-s-emails-decide-for-yourself/article_ee14376e-8619-11e8-94ca-47cbe2d1b758.html) was written after the Inspector General (IG) report was written. Why am I dragging that up? Because the individuals that “colluded” to exonerate Clinton are the same individuals that initiated the Russia collusion narrative. Here is where those key individuals stand now.

James Comey was fired by President Trump. The IG report listed numerous violations by Mr. Comey of FBI policy which is why talk of obstruction of justice for firing him have dropped to a murmur. Andrew McCabe the second in charge was fired the day before his retirement for “lack of candor” (i.e. lying) to the IG investigators. Peter Strzok, the lead investigator in the Clinton email investigation and initiator of the Russia collusion investigation was fired recently as a result of the IG report. Lisa Page started on the Mueller’s special council but resigned later. All have been referred to the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility for investigation of possible charges along with others that are still unnamed. I challenge anyone to read the full IG report and explain with confidence how bias was not a factor in Clinton’s exoneration or the Russia collusion investigation. (https://www.justice.gov/file/1071991/). Download It’s 568 pages so pull up a recliner and keep an open mind. Pay particular attention to attachment G, where the IG shows that 33 FBI agents had 229 phone calls with three reporters. Attachment H shows 19 FBI agents had 103 phone calls with four reporters. My take away is that the FBI and media had a very open relationship. Tie that to bias in the IG report and it’s not a stretch to believe the FBI “colluded” with the media to affect the 2016 election.

So where are we now with actual Russia collusion? It was started in May 2017. Thirteen high paid lawyers were hired and as of May, 2018 the cost has been $17 million, according to Politico and the DOJ. To my knowledge no American has been indicted for collusion. Let me repeat that. No American has been indicted for collusion with Russia during the 2016 election. If you read my letters you should know that I always go back to “source data” for facts. The IG report is one of those documents. Another would be the indictment of 13 Russians and three Russian companies. Here is the link (https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1035562/download). It details what overt actions those Russians took to affect the 2016 elections. My take away after reading the 37 pages is that the claims by the media far exaggerated the impact it had on the election. There is also a second indictment for 12 Russians with ties to the Russian government for interfering in the 2016 election. Here is that link (https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2018/07/Muellerindictment.pdf). It’s only 29 pages, so not a difficult read. Here is a link to Rosenstein speaking about what is in that indictment (https://www.c-span.org/video/?448407-1/12-russian-intelligence-officers-indicted-dnc-hacking). Mr. Rosenstein makes the point that the FBI follows the facts and indicts when the facts support it. He also clearly states that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty which is a major tenant of our justice system. So why has our media gotten it so wrong? Those on the left have openly said our president is guilty of “high crimes and misdemeanors” as well as “treason” with hearsay from anonymous sources. That is not how our system works.

I commend the FBI and DOJ for the work they have done on exposing what most people already knew which is that the Russians interfere with our elections. What I don’t know is if the FBI and DOJ are actually trying to “take down” a duly-elected president as the “right” and “left” are both suggesting. Oddly, the right is accusing the FBI and DOJ of being the “deep state,” going after Trump, and the left is accusing the president of colluding with the Russians. Neither is supported by the indictments and videos above.

I try to keep an open mind, but I must admit that it is extremely disturbing to me that the left is hanging their collusion narrative on a 20-minute meeting in Trump tower with a Russian Lawyer and a dossier from Russian sources the DNC and Clinton campaign paid $1.02 million for and the only ones getting investigated are Republicans. It seems backwards that paying for Russian dirt on a political opponent is “oppositional research” but not paying for it is “collusion.” Think about that! I also find it equally unfounded that the right is accusing the FBI and DOJ of being the deep state when they have fired those involved in the Clinton exoneration and they still remain under investigation.

I’ll close this letter with a warning. The upcoming election should be about the country and what direction we want it to go. I have watched what the Trump agenda has accomplished so far and want it to continue. I have also listened to “some” Democratic candidates and cringe when I hear them wanting to abolish ICE, support open boarders, sanctuary cities, socialism, impeachment, etc. I’ll stay focused on the important issues like the economy and rule of law and I hope you do also. 

Bruce Jenket

Moultonborough