The FBI stalks Hillary while Bill Clinton trolls Obama

[Jail Is Waiting Hillary]

Do Bill and Hillary Clinton sense a breakdown in whatever deal
they may have struck with President Obama to protect her
presidential ambitions? Is whatever negotiation they may have
been conducting over her email server problem and any inside
information she may have on him now imploding? Or have the
Clintons “won” the negotiation with Mr. Obama, freeing them to
hit him publicly to get her elected?

Something has happened, which has led Mr. Clinton to openly slam
Mr. Obama: ” If you believe we’ve finally come to the point
where we can put the awful legacy of the last eight years behind
us ” he said recently. A few days later, Chelsea Clinton
launched a broadside on Obamacare’s costs. A classic Clintonian
one-two punch, coming just days before a report that the FBI is
seeking interviews with Mrs. Clinton’s top aides, and likely
Mrs. Clinton herself. Most investigations interview the target
last.

In political scandals, sometimes it’s the person you’d least
expect who says or does something that brings down the whole
house of cards.

On July 16, 1973, Alexander Butterfield, former deputy assistant
to President Nixon but a relatively minor White House player,
revealed the existence of an Oval Office taping system to the
Senate Watergate Committee and the nation. That disclosure began
the denouement of the Nixon presidency.

Today, another relatively minor player may be revealing highly
damaging information about someone who would like Mr. Nixon’s
old job.

Former Hillary Clinton IT specialist Bryan Pagliano, a key
witness in the investigation into her use of a private server,
struck an immunity deal with the Justice Department and
apparently has been singing. An intelligence source told Fox
News that he has told the FBI a range of details about how her
personal email system was set up and maintained. The source
described him as a “devastating witness.”

Mr. Pagliano is a pivotal — perhaps the pivotal — key to Mrs.
Clinton’s server and what was being done on and through it — and
by whom.

Mr. Pagliano was in charge of server(s) since the 2008 campaign.
He was paid $5,000 for “computer services” by the Clintons
before he joined the State Department staff. After he started
working there in May 2009, Mr. Pagliano continued to receive
payments from the Clintons to maintain the server.

Mr. Pagliano can name all those who had access to the Clinton
server and devices and when, and reportedly is doing so,
allowing investigators to piece together an evidentiary
timeline. It was emphasized to Fox News that Mrs. Clinton’s
deliberate “creation” and “control” of the private server used
for her official government business is the subject of “intense
scrutiny.”

Mr. Pagliano can also testify to the security of the server and
what was told to whom about it. Again, the server has the
documents, including the at least 22 top secret and above top
secret ones deemed too damaging to national security to publicly
release under any circumstances. That is a matter of some risk
for Mrs. Clinton.

In another deeply problematic development, the FBI is focused on
documents she and her aides sent rather than received, because
sending them demonstrates deliberate intent much more than
receiving them would. It’s been reported that over 100 highly
sensitive documents originated with her.

If there are major classified emails that were sent by Mrs.
Clinton, then one of my sources said “there won’t be escape from
prosecution”.

Mrs. Clinton’s defense has been that she neither sent nor
received anything “marked classified” at the time. This is more
Clintonian parsing: documents are classified “confidential,”
“secret” or “top secret.” Further, in January 2009 Mrs. Clinton
signed the classified information non-disclosure agreement
indicating that she understood that classified information could
be marked and unmarked, and that it included verbal
communications.

The Pagliano immunity deal is a piece of the puzzle. But in what
way? As a general matter, DOJ does not like to grant offers of
immunity unless it is assured something major in return.

A second State Department staffer, John Bentel, who managed IT
security issues for the secretary’s office, has refused to
answer Senate investigators’ questions about her use of the
server. They are now reportedly considering a subpoena to compel
his testimony.

These investigations are proceeding along multiple tracks: the
FBI and two Senate committees are looking into her possible
mishandling of classified material; the FBI is also examining
possible violations of public corruption laws involving the co-
mingling of her work at the State Department with Clinton
Foundation operations. Judges continue to rule on several
lawsuits involving the State Department and FOIA requests.
Possible legal jeopardy surrounds her.

There is also big political jeopardy. The calendar is a problem
for the FBI and DOJ. The longer the investigation goes, the more
manageable it is for the Clinton campaign. An impending
nomination is her greatest weapon.

To paraphrase a key Watergate query: What did the secretary know
and when did she know it? Perhaps Mr. Obama and the FBI know the
answer, and that has made Mr. Clinton and his wife dangerously
unhappy.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/30/monica-crowley-
the-clintons-sense-a-breakdown/