Ever since FBI Director James Comey sent his letter to Congress about potential new emails related to the Hillary Clinton email server investigation, and got bipartisan blowback from that unusual decision, the FBI and Justice Department have been leaking like a sieve.
Unidentified "federal officials familiar with the investigation" tell The Washington Post that Comey actually showed restraint by waiting until Oct. 28 to deliver his "circumspect" letter to Congress. Comey had been told about the emails before being formally "briefed" on Oct. 27, the officials said, and had ordered FBI investigators to find everything they could about the emails from Clinton aide Huma Abedin without reading them, since they did not have a warrant for Abedin's emails. The metadata was enough to seek a warrant, the officials say, and Comey was concerned that applying for a warrant would lead to a leak. "It could not be done in secret," one official said. "It's a volatile subject and a major topic in the presidential campaign."
At The Wall Street Journal, "officials at multiple agencies" who were "familiar with the matter" described a fight between FBI agents who wanted to aggressively pursue an investigation into the Clinton Foundation and public-corruption prosecutors who thought the agents' evidence was weak or worthless. The Clinton Foundation inquiry, as The New York Times reported Tuesday, was based on allegations from an anti-Clinton book, Clinton Cash, by conservative writer Peter Schweizer. Schweizer tells The Wall Street Journal that his book wasn't meant to be a legal document but instead describes "patterns of financial transactions that circled around decisions Hillary Clinton was making as secretary of state."
"Starting in February and continuing today, investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and public-corruption prosecutors became increasingly frustrated with each other, as often happens within and between departments," The Wall Street Journal reports. The FBI agents were frustrated because they had secretly recorded a suspect in another case "talking about alleged deals the Clintons made," and were angry prosecutors wouldn't let them aggressively follow up; the prosecutors viewed the recording as not-credible hearsay and Justice Department officials became frustrated that the FBI agents were disobeying orders to be discreet in such a high-profile investigation. You can read more about the infighting at The Wall Street Journal. Peter Weber
The family of Jakelin Caal Maquin, the 7-year-old Guatemalan migrant who died in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) custody this month, have challenged the agency's account of her death.
"She had not suffered from a lack of water or food prior to approaching the border," said a statement from lawyers representing Jakelin's father, Nery Gilberto Caal Cuz. "Jakelin's father took care of Jakelin — made sure she was fed and had sufficient water." CPB has reported Jakelin had not been given food or water for several days before she was taken into custody, attributing her illness and subsequent death to circumstances outside CPB's control.
The statement also says CPB had her father sign a form about Jakelin's health in English, a language he does not speak, and noted that autopsy results determining a cause of death have yet to be released. The statement calls for a "transparent and neutral investigation of Jakelin's death." Bonnie Kristian
"Brexit is in danger of getting stuck — and that is something that should worry us all," U.K. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Amber Rudd warned Saturday. "If [lawmakers] dig in against the prime minister's deal and then hunker down in their different corners, none with a majority, the country will face serious trouble."
Her comments and similar remarks from other leaders come after Prime Minister Theresa May was unable to exact more concessions for the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union this week.
"The Union stands by this agreement and intends to proceed with its ratification. It is not open for renegotiation," the EU said Thursday of the previously negotiated deal, which is not expected to pass the British parliament as-is. May postponed a Tuesday House of Commons vote on the proposal. Bonnie Kristian
Thousands of "yellow vest" protesters assembled in Paris Saturday for a fifth consecutive weekend of demonstrations, though the crowd was smaller and more peaceful than it has been in weekends prior.
Additional assemblies were anticipated around France, and some 69,000 police officers — 8,000 of them in Paris alone — were deployed to respond. Paris police again used tear gas and water cannons to make protesters disperse.
The demonstrators are protesting high taxes and cost of living in France, the administration of French President Emmanuel Macron, and more. "We're here to represent all our friends and members of our family who can't come to protest, or because they're scared," a demonstrator named Pierre Lamy, 27, told The Associated Press. "Everything's coming up now. We're being bled dry."
The yellow vests are calling for a citizens' referendum. "We are protesting peacefully," said yellow vest representative Maxime Nicolle, "but, Mr. President, give us back our freedom and our sovereignty!" Bonnie Kristian
