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FBI Comes Clean John Ehrlichman-Style
The expression "modified limited hangout" coined by Nixon adviser John Ehrlichman seems an apt description for what the FBI did two weeks ago when it blithely reversed an earlier sworn FBI Declaration that it had no records on Seth Rich. Readers of the barren Establishment media will be surprised to learn that, after three years of denial the last two under Director Christopher Wray the FBI has now admitted that it does, after all, have thousands of records relating to Seth Rich. Its "initial search" has identified "approximately 50 cross-reference serials, with attachments totaling over 20,000 pages, in which Seth Rich is mentioned," as well as "leads that indicate additional potential records that require further searching."
The FBI also admitted to having custody of Seth Rich's long-gone-missing laptop. These confessions came in an unapologetic Dec. 9, 2020 letter to attorney Ty Clevenger (See here for Clevenger's informative blog post, "FBI changes story, finally admits it has thousands of pages of documents about Seth Rich..")
In admitting to having thousands of records relating to Rich, the FBI ipso facto conceded that its Oct. 3, 2018 "Declaration," sworn "under penalty of perjury," was at best misleading. The FBI fall guy is David M. Hardy, who swore that he could find no records on Rich. (See: Click Here .) Hardy was FBI Section Chief, Record/Information Dissemination Section, Information Management Division. Those working for Hardy -- the Hardy Boys & Girls, if you will number in the hundreds; they appear well trained in how not to find information responsive to Freedom of Information Act requests, when zero results are the objective.
Ty Clevenger's client, Brian Huddleston, had filed an FOIA request on April 9, 2020 for information regarding Seth Rich and Seth's brother Aaron, but initially was stiff-armed by the FBI. Now, eight months later, thousands of records are to be made available. But wait.
Still Slow-Rolling: FBI Wants Three More Months
"Can't wait to find out what those magically appearing records on Seth Rich reveal," you may be saying to yourself.
Not so fast, says the FBI which explained in its letter to Clevenger how it intends to proceed:
"At this time, FBI anticipates processing only the pages where Seth Rich is mentioned, along with perhaps another page or two in each situation to provide context. The issue right now with this batch of documents is the amount of labor required to ingest all of the material so that the responsive pages will, first, be in a page format, secondly, can be identified from among the thousands of non-responsive pages, and finally, be processed. The FBI is also currently working on getting the files from Seth Rich's personal laptop into a format to be reviewed. As you can imagine, there are thousands of files of many types."
Pouring more cold water on eager anticipation, the FBI letter added, "Unfortunately, these efforts are hampered by FBI FOIA office's reduction to a 50% staffing posture due to COVID."
And here is an additional wet blanket for those still waiting:
"In light of the status of this search and the work left to be done, we propose an additional three months [Emphasis added] to complete the tasks described above. At that time, we will propose a production schedule and briefing schedule." If that were not enough to dampen spirits, the FBI adds that it "will continue to evaluate the responsiveness of these files under the FOIA."
And one can certainly anticipate copious redactions of any politically/bureaucratically/embarrassing material.
Waiting for Godot...
Director Wray seems to have ordered the Hardy Boys & Girls to continue dragging their feet. Let's see; three months will take us well into the Biden administration with the Democrats calling the shots. If, as has been reported, Joe Biden lets Christopher Wray remain as FBI director, well, Godot is likely to arrive before any significant material on Seth Rich.
...and for John Durham
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