DOJ continues to act as spokesman for Dems

 Jerry Dunleavy:

The FBI has been accused of weaponizing intelligence briefings and selectively leaking information to take aim at a number of high-profile targets.

Republicans have pointed to the emergence of what seems to be a troubling trend — the bureau directly (or via leaks to Democrats or carefully chosen media outlets) shaping the narrative around investigations in whatever way it sees fit.

Those claims returned to the spotlight when Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) raised concerns last month that an FBI briefing on Russia in summer 2020 was used to undercut their investigation of the Biden family at the same time the bureau was wrongly labeling evidence about Hunter Biden as disinformation.

A number of investigations have been affected by questionable briefings, including those into former President Donald Trump's ties to Russia, and the inquiry into Hunter Biden's finances.

Ian Fleming famously wrote for the notorious James Bond villain, Goldfinger, that "once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action." Here is a breakdown of the FBI's most-scrutinized briefings that have led many Republicans to ponder that quote in recent years.

Hunter Biden

Grassley sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray last month about an Aug. 2020 briefing on alleged Russian influence efforts that he says were leaked to the press to hurt his Biden investigation. Whistleblowers claimed FBI officials had wrongly labeled verified evidence as "disinformation."

FBI supervisory intelligence analyst Brian Auten opened an assessment in Aug. 2020 that “was used by a FBI Headquarters team to improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease,” according to whistleblower disclosures.

The senator’s letter indicated congressional Democrats asked for a briefing in July 2020 “from the very same FBI HQ team that discredited the derogatory Hunter Biden information.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) wrote to Wray in July 2020 that they were “gravely concerned ... that Congress appears to be the target of a concerted foreign interference campaign, which seeks to launder and amplify disinformation.”

Grassley told Garland and Wray: "The concurrent opening of Auten’s assessment, the efforts by the FBI HQ team, and the efforts by the FBI to provide an unnecessary briefing to me and Senator Johnson that provided our Democratic colleagues fodder to falsely accuse us of advancing foreign disinformation draws serious concern."

The Grassley-Johnson report on Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings was released in September 2020.

Joe Biden’s campaign baselessly dismissed the Hunter Biden laptop story as a Russian operation in October 2020.

Dossier and Trump Tower

James Comey’s briefing of Trump on the dossier in Jan. 2017 was used to advance the Crossfire Hurricane inquiry, according to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz in 2019.

...

DOJ pretextual briefing to Trump and Flynn

The FBI’s first intelligence briefing of then-candidate Trump in Aug. 2016 at its New York field office was used as a "pretext" to gather evidence on him and then-foreign policy adviser Flynn, according to 2019 testimony from Horowitz.

...

They also did similar things to push the Russian collusion hoax in concert with Democrats.  The Department appears to be working for the DNC rather than for the American people.  Their handling of the Hunter Biden episode is a total disgrace and those responsible for claiming it was disinformation should be fired. 

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