patrick.net

Patrick says

FBI created to fight organized crime? Odd, because from the founding days of the FBI, J Edgar Hoover denied that organized crime even existed.

Patrick says

The FBI was created under false pretenses, but Hoover won support for it by finding dirt on political opponents to the Wilson administration. (And every subsequent presidential administration.) The FBI has always drummed up more money and support by amping up the fear factor on whatever "threats" were in the popular imagination, or just the halls of Washington, D.C. federal bureaus and Capitol Hill. In the beginning it was foreign immigrant Anarchists, then it was the possible disloyalty of German Americans during WW1. The FBI hunted for "subversives" and spies during WW1, and beat the drums of international communism even before the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. After 1917 they had their favorite Fear Factor, which happened to be based on something real, the COMINTERN. But J. Edgar Hoover was the semi-annual guest of the mob in Florida, where he had his "bachelor" vacations and gambled on horses. He denied the existence of organized crime until widespread evidence forced his hand. Hoover always looked for opportunities to get his bureau more jurisdiction and power. So when the flamboyant thieves who used machine guns and fast cars became a thing during the 1920's and 1930's, (like Pretty Boy Floyd, Bonnie & Clyde, John Dillinger, etc.) he exploited that to the hilt. Because those innovative crooks crossed state lines.

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/499586-new-fbi-document-confirms-the-trump-campaign-was-investigated-without/

New FBI document confirms the Trump campaign was investigated without justification

Patrick says

Probably what happened to me.

Patrick says

It depends entirely how influential that person might be. They check the comm nodes to see how stuff spreads.

https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/anti-social-tuesday-april-2-2024

In case the FBI is coming after anti-vaxxers next, here is a “field guide” to interacting with the FBI about your social media posts.

The basic rule is: don’t talk to the FBI at all. You aren’t legally required to talk to them without legal process (like a subpoena) or without your lawyer. So don’t talk to the FBI. This can be trickier than you think. One way you can accidentally get in trouble happens when you don’t even know you’re talking to an FBI agent. The second way — lying to a federal official — happens during your conversation with the agent.

Both ways are easy to avoid. Don’t ever talk to them unless legally required — and you will know when that is — and don’t ever talk to them without a lawyer. I’ll tell you how to handle both types of encounters.

Sometimes you might not know you are talking to an agent. An ‘act in furtherance’ is the entrapment path. Unless you are making specific threats against people, the things you say are protected by the First Amendment and can’t be criminalized. But an undercover FBI agent could try to convince you to do something, however small, “in furtherance” of a criminal act. It doesn’t take much. Then they can combine that act, however small, with your words, which are used as evidence of your criminal intent.

It’s not hard. Just don’t get involved in anything shady. Especially not if the idea comes from some new online contact. And not even if the act, whatever it is, however satisfying it might feel, seems distant from any actual crime. You don’t have to do the actual crime to be convicted of being an ‘accessory’ or a ‘co-conspirator.’

There doesn’t even have to be a crime! Or any real co-conspirators. Even if the rest of the ‘conspiracy’ group is all undercover feds, and even if no crime ever actually happens, or even gets close to happening, they can still charge you for the ‘attempt.’

An attempt carries the same punishment as actually doing the crime.

For example, patriotic anti-lockdown trucker Barry Croft, 47, got 19 years for co-conspiring in the Whitmer incident. Largely he was convicted for his words — “discussions” — about using explosions to divert federal officials during a potential kidnapping. Although the ‘discussions’ might arguably have been First Amendment protected, but Barry traveled to Michigan to scout out the scene. (Plus he wore a funny tricorner hat they really hated.) Regardless that the federal agents talked Barry into going to Michigan, they combined Barry’s words (talking about using explosives) with his act (traveling to Michigan) to establish the crime of attempted fednapping.

Most people reading this probably won’t have any trouble avoiding this category of potential risk. Just don’t do stupid stuff and don’t get involved with stupid people.

Second, don’t talk to feds especially when they identify themselves, like by unexpectedly visiting you or calling you on the phone for a chat. This second and more substantial risk of liability for your words arises from lying to a federal official. United States Code, Title 18, Section 1001, drops the hammer:

(a) Whoever, within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the United States, knowingly and willfully—
(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up … a material fact; (or)
(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation;
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned (up to) 5 years or, if (it) involves … domestic terrorism, imprisoned (up to) 8 years, or both.
Since the FBI is within the executive branch, making any “fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation” to the FBI — even if not under oath — is a felony punishable with up to five years in federal prison (up to eight if they can say it “involves” domestic terrorism, like criticizing genderbending school board members).

Technically, section 1001 includes a “materiality” component — the lie must be somehow meaningful, not just about whether that dress makes your wife look fat — “material” is a super squishy legal term, and you don’t want to rely on the inability of creative FBI lawyers to convince a judge something you said was somehow “material.”

Not to mention the process is the punishment anyway. Even if you win your case, you still had to endure it. And unlike you, the FBI gets its lawyers for free.

But you argue, Jeff, I would never lie to the FBI in the first place. Of course not. Not on purpose. But why take an unnecessary risk of accidentally ‘lying’? Your memory isn’t perfect. And like everybody, you probably believe lots of stuff that isn’t true. And some things you think are just your opinion — like saying the 2020 elections were stolen or Nancy Pelosi is a lizardarian — could be whipsawed against you as “false facts.”

You can’t beat them. Don’t even try. FBI agents are trained law enforcement professionals with lots of practice from interrogating people every single day.

Take conservative fashion stylist Martha Stewart as an example. Martha spent five months tastefully decorating a federal prison cell for lying to investigators under 18 USC § 1001, not for “insider trading.” She was heavily fined and went to jail for stupid stuff she said...

Step one. When the FBI shows up at the door and introduces themselves, you should start recording. Do not record them secretly — that’s a felony in many states (including Florida). Be friendly. Ask them to wait a sec if you need to go get your phone. Once the recording is on, you can ask a few quick questions.

This is optional. But to get some useful information for the recording, ask their names, ask for their business cards, ask what office they’re from, and ask for their supervisor’s name. Then ask, “gentlemen, what’s this all about?”

Then you should politely and firmly say “I would love to talk to you boys about this, but I want to do it with my lawyer. I’ll have my lawyer call your office and set something up.” Then say goodbye and close the door.

You won’t need to call and follow up. They don’t want to talk to your lawyer anyway. Also, there’s no reason to demand to see their identification, which can be faked by bad actors anyway. If they are pushy, or won’t go away, call your local sheriff and say there are armed men standing around in your yard. Then start microwaving some popcorn.

Here’s a quick summary of the advice:

Record the interaction.

Refuse to speak to them without a lawyer.

Refuse to let them in the house (unless they have a warrant).

Don’t go outside of the house and keep the door closed.

It’s that simple, although you’ll probably feel nerve-wracked the whole time. Odds are that, if the FBI was really there just to talk to you about your social media posts, the case ends right there.

Still, I’d suggest that if it does happen, contact a lawyer to have on standby, just in case they decide to follow up.

By avoiding talking, you’ll avoid the trap of helping the FBI turn your perfectly legal words into a crime.

I understand the sentiment, because the FBI has proven that it is the enemy of the American people by conducting politically motivated investigations against Trump, people who speak up at school board meetings, and Catholics, (just a few examples) while obstructing justice for the obvious crimes committed by Hunter and the rest of the Biden Crime Family. Not to mention the Pelosi/FBI entrapment scheme on Jan 6th against innocent people legitimately protesting the obviously fraudulent 2020 election.

The FBI should not exist, and all of its current management should be in prison for their flagrant violation of the Constitution, human rights, and basic decency.

https://freedompress.com/report-fbi-considered-smearing-ashli-babbitt-as-a-terrorist/

Government files acquired by Judicial Watch through the Freedom of Information Act revealed startling information concerning the FBI. The agency considered labeling slain Jan. 6 demonstrator Ashli Babbitt as a terrorist after she was shot by Capitol Police.

The group received 62 redacted FBI documents it requested from the FBI.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton reacted strongly to the discovery. “It is beyond belief that the Biden FBI gave Ashli Babbitt’s killer a free pass while engaging in a malicious months-long ‘criminal’ investigation of Babbitt herself.”

StopHate, an organization advocating for transparency around the events of Jan. 6, has done extensive reporting on the circumstances of that day and has created several free documentaries that delve into often undiscussed issues surrounding that day.

.@JudicialWatch just uncovered how the FBI spent months investigating Ashli Babbitt AFTER she was killed. And Feds put her killer up in luxe suite on a military base for six months! https://t.co/pnrF13snRb

— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) April 11, 2024
Babbitt was shot and killed as she clinged to a broken window leading into the speaker’s Lobby. She was obviously unarmed and did not present a threat.

"The FBI has an accurate count of the number of automobiles stolen every year. It knows the number of homicides, rapes, and robberies, but the FBI has no idea of the number of children who disappear every year. They simply do not ask for the statistics. Every month, every major police department in the United States files its uniform crime statistics with the FBI. It would be simple for the bureau to add one more column to the statistics and get a breakdown of every reported case of missing children--not to even mention children who are kidnapped for ritualistic purposes, and, in some cases, murdered. I am convinced that the FBI does not ask for these statistics because they do not want to see them. they would be confronted with an instant public outcry for action, because the figures would show a major social problem."

- Ted Gunderson
Former agent-in-charge of the FBI LA field division

https://twitter.com/MikeBenzCyber/status/1781798797019910234

"Ukraine Aid" defense funding is a lie. It's "Seize Eurasia" offense funds. As long as "Seize Eurasia" is Blob policy, it will be trillions to Ukraine & doom to all who oppose.

Trump was impeached over Ukraine military "aid" 3 yrs before 2022's war. This is what FISA is about👇

https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/sitting-ducks-wednesday-may-8-2024

CNN ran a tearful story yesterday headlined, “Federal judge indefinitely postpones Trump classified documents trial.” ...

But the issue of FBI evidence tampering might have been the most interesting out of a raft of very interesting Trump team issues. ...

The photo — unimaginably leaked by the DOJ — was one of the pictures allegedly taken by the FBI during the Mar-a-Lago raid. Many observers, including me, opined it looked like FBI drama queens had deliberately staged the documents, dramatically spreading them out on the floor, intending to manufacture a media picture for later leaking.

Either way, that picture did the job. On August 31, 2022, for example, Washington Post fact checker Philip Bump explained to readers that the “question of whether Trump had classified material with him at his Mar-a-Lago resort has captured the public’s attention. The photo published by the government appears to answer that question quite affirmatively.”

It turns out those of us who smelled an FBI rat were right, as the government has recently been reluctantly forced to admit. At least, we were right that the documents were not originally found on Trump’s office floor. Rather, they were neatly stored in secured bankers’ boxes. The FBI altered the evidence by throwing it all over the floor helter-skelter, putting stupid tape measures under it to look official, and adding a silly evidence tag (“2A”), like they were marking the location where the fatal bullet casing was found.

But it turns out it was so much worse. Thanks to heroic work by Trump’s lawyers, and following several stern orders from Judge Cannon forcing the government to respond to basic discovery requests, we’ve now learned that the documents in the picture aren’t even the documents in the picture.

What I mean is, the FBI has now admitted that the documents seen splayed on the floor are dummies, props. At the time the picture was taken, the original classified documents had already been secured and removed. So the FBI took some other random papers and — get this — put classified cover sheets on them and then posed those dummy documents on the floor. Picture time.

Not only weren’t the documents found on the floor, and not only weren’t the documents in the picture the actual documents, but the official-looking classified document cover sheets as seen in the photo were totally fake. There were no classified cover sheets on any of the original documents. It was all made up. ...

So the government now faces two new, potentially fatal problems: the evidence tampering (or at least, evidence negligence), and lying to the court. And the CNN article mentioned, this is just one of the many complex and potentially novel issues now confronting the government’s case.

Patrick says

"the FBI has now admitted that the documents seen splayed on the floor are dummies, props... Not only
weren’t the documents found on the floor, and not only weren’t the documents in the picture the actual
documents, but the official-looking classified document cover sheets as seen in the photo were totally fake.
There were no classified cover sheets on any of the original documents. It was all made up..."

In other words the FBI fabricated the evidence against Trump.

I'm watching "Whitey: United States of America vs James J. Bulger", a 2014 documentary.

Holy shit is the FBI corrupt, worse than I though. The prosecutor of a mafia case in Boston was worried about the mafia getting back at him. Whitey Bulger offered to protect him in exchange for never being prosecuted. Officially, Bulger was an FBI informant, and that's supposedly why he was allowed to commit violent crime for 20 years, but the documentary makes the case that he was not an informant at all. He had simply corrupted the FBI itself, first by protecting this prosecutor in exchange for immunity. He also claims to have simply paid FBI agents to leave him alone, using the proceeds from his crimes.

Whitey also had a childhood friend at the FBI, James Connolly, who would pass him info. So after one of Whitey's murders, a witness was going to come forward to testify against Whitey. The FBI first refused the witness entry into the witness protection program, and second, Connolly tipped of Whitey with the witness's name. So Bulger killed the witness and got away with it, with FBI help.

And I'm only halfway through the show.

Lol, to make Bulger look like an informant, the FBI would claim that they had information from him when they went to get warrants for searches. It was convenient for getting warrants, and it helped bolster the fiction that Bulger was an informant.

But now that it's clear tons of warrants were falsified with fake "info" from Bulger, a lot of convictions could be overturned. Given that the documentary is 10 years old, maybe some were.

Also, the FBI is afraid of liability for causing the deaths of various people by tipping off organized crime about whom they might want to get rid of.

Ah, the FBI did have to pay out $20M total to relatives of those killed while they were letting him murder people.

Patrick says

Whitey Bulger

For once I'm going to be coy, find out who Whitey Bulger's brother was.

You have no comprehension how much I hate the FIB. Anybody that works for them is incomprehensibly ignorant, or evil.

Oh hell, I can't help show off my knowledge:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bulger

When I say the government is a criminal syndicate, I'm not being the least bit melodramatic. Did "the documentary" mention his brother, the congressman?

Yes, I knew about his brother, and the documentary mentioned it.

Patrick says

Yes, I knew about his brother, and the documentary mentioned it.

I believe Robert Mueller was one of Whitey Bulger's handlers.

If people understood just how absolutely corrupt the FBI is. It's easily the most corrupt organization in the US and CIA is number 2

Patrick says

Ah, the FBI did have to pay out $20M total to relatives of those killed while they were letting him murder people.

Did any FBI persons go to jail for that? After all, a human had to make those decisions. Giving out $20 million of taxpayer money is no deterrence or justice to the crooks.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/05/fbi-urges-employees-to-look-for-ways-to-collect-americans-messages/

A Federal Bureau of Investigation official recently urged employees to "look for ways" to conduct warrantless surveillance on US residents, an internal email obtained by Wired shows. FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate's email was reportedly sent on April 20, the same day President Biden signed a bill that was criticized as a major expansion of warrantless surveillance under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).