Media Clips Citing 2017 ADL National Leadership
Summit
Coverage to Date From 5/7 – 5/11
http://toi.sr/2pnT7JL
FBI Director laments increase in anti-Semitic
acts, hate crimes
Comey tells ADL gathering he makes every FBI agent visit Holocaust
Museum to learn how ‘good people helped murder millions’
BY ERIC CORTELLESSA | May 8, 2017, 10:53 pm
FBI Director James Comey speaks to the Anti-Defamation League National Leadership Summit in
Washington, May 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
WASHINGTON — FBI Director James Comey on Monday lamented an uptick in antiSemitic and racist events in the United states, telling the Anti-Defamation League’s
annual summit that he was committed to working with them to meet the challenge.
“We have been spending way too much time together lately,” Comey said. “Together, we
have confronted bomb threats targeting Jewish community centers and schools, the
vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, the racially motivated shooting of two Indian
immigrants.”
“We have met together to talk about swastikas painted on synagogues and subway signs,
a transgender woman attacked in her own home, a noose sent to an African-American
attorney,” he added.
Since January, nearly 150 bomb threats have hit JCCs, Jewish day schools and other
institutions, causing the evacuation of dozens of Jewish community centers and
prompting some parents to remove their children from JCC programs.
However, most were found to be the work of an Israeli-American teen from Ashkelon
who has been charged with making thousands of bomb threats over the last two years.
The FBI were reportedly instrumental in helping Israeli police track him down.
The FBI director, speaking to a large crowd at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington,
spoke of how the Holocaust influenced his thinking and how he used its lessons to teach
FBI agents.
“I believe the Holocaust is the most significant event in human history because it was
the most horrific display of inhumanity imaginable,” he said.
“It is our duty, our obligation to make sure some good comes from unalienable bad,” he
added. “Not to somehow make it worth it, that’s nonsense, not to justify the loss, but
simply because it’s what we must do. It is our obligation to refuse to let darkness win.”
Comey said it was a requirement for agents in his bureau to visit the US Holocaust
Memorial Museum.
“Good people helped murder millions, and that’s the most frightening lesson of all: That
our very humanity is capable of convincing itself that we have to do this, it’s the right
thing to do,” he said. “That should frighten all of us. That’s why we send our agents and
our analysts to the Holocaust museum, so they can stare at us and realize our capacity
for rationalization and moral surrender. ”
Drawing from that, Comey said hate crimes were of a particular concern to the FBI.
“Hate crime is different from other crime. It strikes at our heart, identity, sense of self,”
he said. “Hate crime hurts more than just the victim, it affects the entire community.”
Comey expressed concern that not enough state and local jurisdictions are reporting
hate crimes to the FBI — which is mandated by federal law.
“Some jurisdictions do not report hate crime data,” he said. “Some say there were no
hate crime in their jurisdiction, which would be awesome if it were true.
We must continue to impress upon our state and local counterparts how important it is
that we track and report hate crime data,” he added. “It’s not something we can ignore.”
http://nbcnews.to/2qKJoSt
FBI Director Comey: Twitter is Like ‘Every Dive
Bar in America’
by ANDREW RAFFERTY
MAY 8 2017, 4:23 PM ET
FBI Director James Comey said Monday that his time spent on social media makes him
think of a "dive bar" filled with yelling and opinions, adding that it's also free speech that
must be protected.
Comey told the Anti-Defamation League at a luncheon that he is "not a tweeter," but
uses the social media platform to read what is being said about the FBI.
"It feels like I'm all of a sudden immediately in every dive bar in America, where I can
hear everybody screaming at the television set," Comey said. "But it is free speech, you
don't have to like it, you don't have to agree with it, but we will protect it."
The FBI head came under fire by members on both sides of the political spectrum for
his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server. He told
Congress the FBI would reopen its investigation into Clinton's emails just days ahead of
the election, only to clear the Democratic nominee a second time.
Clinton last week partially blamed the investigation on her surprise loss to Donald
Trump.
Comey said at a speech in March he was on both Twitter and Instagram.
"I don't want anybody looking at my photos, but I treasure my privacy and security on
the Internet," Comey said.
https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/05/08/fbi-director-james-comey-at-adl-summit-holocaustshowed-humanitys-true-capacity-for-evil-and-moral-surrender/
FBI Director James Comey at ADL Summit:
Holocaust Showed Humanity’s ‘True Capacity
for Evil and Moral Surrender’
by Barney Breen-Portnoy
MAY 8, 2017 4:52 PM
FBI Director James Comey. Photo: Carl Cox / ADL.
It is vital that power be “overseen and constrained,” the head of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) told the Anti-Defamation League on Monday at its annual
national leadership conference.
“It is our duty, regardless of race, religion or ideology — it is our obligation to refuse
to let darkness win,” FBI Director James Comey told the crowd at The Mayflower
Hotel in Washington, DC. “It is our obligation not to let evil hold the field.”
The Holocaust, Comey went on to say, was the “most significant event in human
history” because “although it was a display of inhumanity that defies words, I believe
it was also the most horrific display of our humanity imaginable — a display of our
true capacity for evil and moral surrender.”
“And that… demonstration of humanity,” Comey noted, “is the reason we require
every FBI agent and every analyst in training to come to the Holocaust Museum,
because we want them to learn about abuse of power on a breathtaking scale. But we
want them to confront something more painful and more frightening. We want them
to see humanity. We want them to look into humanity’s mirror and see what we are
capable of. We want them to see that although the slaughter of the Holocaust was led
by sick and evil people, those sick and evil leaders were joined by and followed by
people who loved their families, who took soup to sick neighbors, who went to
church, who gave to charity — good people.”
“Good people helped murder millions and that’s the most frightening lesson of all –
that our very humanity is capable of convincing itself that ‘We have to do this,’ ‘It’s
the right thing to do,’” he continued. “And that should frighten all of us.”
“We want them to walk out of that great museum treasuring the constraint of
oversight of divided government, the restriction of the rule of law and the binding of
a free and vibrant press,” Comey said.
http://mashable.com/2017/05/08/fbi-director-james-comey-twitter/#nJdZ70MOMmqV
James Comey says Twitter is both 'wonderful'
and 'depressing'
BY COLIN DAILEDA
May 8, 2017
FBI Director James Comey admitted on Monday that, yeah, he's on Twitter. And, like
perhaps every person who has ever used the app, he thinks it's both "wonderful" and
"depressing."
"Sometimes it feels like I'm all of a sudden immediately in every dive bar in America,
where I can hear everybody screaming at the television set," Comey said at the AntiDefamation League conference on Monday.
Even so, he does scroll through some tweets.
"I am not a tweeter," Comey said. "I am there to listen, to read especially what's being
said about the FBI and its mission. And sometime's it's a wonderful place and
sometimes it's a depressing place."
Comey started his little Twitter spiel by saying that his audience may have read that
he uses the site. If anyone in the crowd was aware, that's likely because of some A+
sleuthing by Gizmodo's Ashley Feinberg. In an article published on March 30, Feinberg
directed readers to a Twitter account, @projectexile7, which seemed very much to be
the Twitter home of the FBI director.
Though Comey didn't mention that account by name, that's about as much
confirmation as you can hope for from the head of one of the most powerful
intelligence agencies in the United States — a man who also, apparently, has really
great taste in dive bars.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/comey-adl-twitter-free-speech
Comey: Twitter Is Like ‘Every Dive Bar In America,’
But It’s Free Speech
By CAITLIN MACNEAL | Published MAY 8, 2017 3:30 PM
During a speech Monday at the Anti-Defamation League’s conference in Washington, D.C., FBI
Director James Comey said that it is important to protect Americans’ right to use Twitter since
free speech is a vital right in the United States.
“Some of you may have read recently that I’m on Twitter. I’m not a tweeter,” Comey told the
audience. “I am there to listen, to read, especially what’s being said about the FBI and its
mission. Sometimes it’s a wonderful place. Sometimes it’s a depressing place. Sometimes it feels
like I’m all of a sudden immediately in every dive bar in America, where I can hear everybody
screaming at the television set.”
“But it is free speech. You don’t have to like it, you don’t have to agree with it, but we have to
protect it because it is the bedrock of this great country,” he continued. “That we can believe and
say what we want, no matter how distasteful or how disruptive, it’s a vital right in this amazing
country of ours.”
But Comey warned that often hateful speech foments into action, which he said the country must
work to prevent.
“You know all too well that in a heartbeat, words can turn to violence. Because hate doesn’t
remain static too often,” he said. “An opinion, a prejudice, a dislike sometimes foments,
sometimes it festers, and it can grow into something far more dangerous. Sometimes, too often,
hate becomes hate crime. So we have to do everything in our power to stop those people who
move from stewing to acting, who move from just hating to hurting.”
The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks hate crimes, issued a report in late April that found
anti-Semitic attacks in the U.S. increased by 34 percent in 2016 and are set to increase even more
in 2017.
The group also found that Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, was
the target of anti-Semitic tweets around the time that the United States launched a missile strike
in Syria and Kushner’s reported rival Steve Bannon was removed from the National Security
Council’s Principal’s Committee.
http://www.jta.org/2017/05/10/news-opinion/politics/james-comey-fired-by-trump-and-reviledby-democrats-had-admirers-among-jewish-defense-officials
James Comey, fired by Trump and reviled by
Democrats, had admirers among Jewish
security officials
By Ron Kampeas
May 10, 2017
WASHINGTON (JTA) — “You make us better,” James Comey told the AntiDefamation League in his final public speech as FBI director.
Judging from the applause in the conference room at the venerable Mayflower
Hotel here, the feeling was mutual.
Mired in investigations of the scandals of 2016 (Hillary Clinton’s relationship with her
email server) and 2017 (Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia), not a lot of love
ended up being lost between the FBI director and either party.
Democrats called for Comey’s firing last year when a week and a half before the election
he reopened the Clinton case because of emails found on the laptop of former
congressman Anthony Weiner in an unrelated case.
President Donald Trump, who repeatedly praised the FBI director as a
candidate, fired Comey on Tuesday, ostensibly because Comey treated Clinton unfairly
last July — he excoriated her for her email habits in a news conference, but
recommended against legal action.
The firing was drawing attention for its timing: Comey is delving into ties between the
Trump campaign and transition officials who may have had ties to Russia.
Among the folks whose business it is to keep Jews safe – like
those gathered Monday in the Mayflower for the ADL’s leadership summit –
admiration for Comey was fairly unequivocal. To a degree greater than most of his
predecessors, he made the Jewish story central to the FBI mission.
Comey required all FBI staffers to undergo a tour of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Museum.
“Good people helped to murder millions. And that’s the most frightening lesson of all,”
he told a museum dinner in 2015. “That is why I send our agents and our analysts to the
museum. I want them to stare at us and realize our capacity for rationalization and
moral surrender.”
Comey, already known as a persuasive speaker, was especially adept at understanding
what moved Jewish Americans. In his ADL speech this week, he recalled meeting a
man who was not far from the scene when a gunman opened fire last June at a gay
nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
“My name is Menachem Green and I’m Jewish,” Comey quoted the man as saying,
pronouncing Menachem impeccably, and went on to say that Green was pleased to tell
him that he ran toward the shooting alongside a police officer he learned was a Muslim.
“We were Jew and Muslim and Christian and white and black and Latino running to
help people we didn’t know,” Comey recalled Green saying.
Comey also noted the “Muslim activists who raised over $100,000 to repair Jewish
headstones in St. Louis and Philadelphia – that makes us better.”
The now former FBI chief also embraced one of the ADL’s signature issues,
improving reporting of hate crimes by local authorities.
“We must do a better job of tracking and reporting hate crime to fully understand what
is happening in our country so we can stop it,” he said.
Just a week earlier, Comey was due to receive a recognition award from the Secure
Community Network, the security affiliate of the Jewish Federations of North America.
Paul Goldenberg, the SCN director, said Comey was to be recognized for his work with
the community in tracking down the perpetrator of dozens of bomb hoaxes on JCCs and
other Jewish institutions.
“Director Comey put in extraordinary resources and showed tremendous commitment
to the American Jewish community,” Goldenberg said, noting that the FBI had deployed
agents to Jewish communities across the states.
Comey could not personally accept the recognition, and SCN delivered it to a surrogate,
because Comey was on the Hill testifying to the Senate about how he handled the email
and Russia scandals.
In his testimony, he noted one of the FBI triumphs of recent months as a defense of the
agency – helping to solve the JCC bomb threats.
“Children frightened, old people frightened, terrifying threats of bombs at Jewish
institutions, especially the Jewish community centers — the entire FBI surged in
response to that threat,” Comey said in his opening remarks Wednesday to the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
In March, an Israeli-American teen was arrested in Israel on suspicion of calling in more
than 100 bomb threats. Last month, the U.S. Justice Department charged the teen,
Michael Kadar, with making threatening calls to JCCs in Florida, conveying false
information to the police and cyberstalking.
“Working across all programs, all divisions, our technical wizards, using our vital
international presence and using our partnerships especially with the Israeli national
police, we made that case and the Israelis locked up the person behind those threats
and stopped the terrifying plague against the Jewish community centers,” Comey said.
Comey may be gone, but the shock among Democrats – and some congressional
Republicans — at his departure means his memory is unlikely to fade anytime soon.
“We must have a special prosecutor,” Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the minority leader
in the Senate, said in a statement delivered at a briefing for reporters late Tuesday.
Schumer said he told Trump in a phone call that firing Comey was a “very big mistake.”
Trump fired back on Twitter, recalling that Schumer had said recently that he did not
have confidence in Comey.
“Then acts so indignant,” Trump said, calling the New York lawmaker “Cryin’ Chuck
Schumer.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the ranking Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives
Intelligence Committee, which is also probing the Trump campaign’s Russia ties, said
there was no contradiction between being appalled at Comey’s handling of the Clinton
case and at his firing.
Schiff noted that Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has recused himself from the
Russia investigation because he had met with a Russian diplomat during the transition,
had signed off on the firing.
“The decision by a president whose campaign associates are under investigation by the
FBI for collusion with Russia to fire the man overseeing that investigation, upon the
recommendation of an attorney general who has recused himself from that
investigation, raises profound questions about whether the White House is brazenly
interfering in a criminal matter,” he said.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?428146-1/discussion-focuses-antisemitism-us
MAY 8, 2017
Anti-Defamation League Leadership Summit Panelists talked about combating antiSemitism and hate crimes in the U.S. According to a recent Anti-Defamation League
(ADL) report, anti-Semitic incidents had increased by 34 percent in 2016 and by 86
percent in the first quarter of 2017. Other topics addressed included the harassment of
Jewish reporters during the presidential campaign and anti-Semitic messages on social
media.
This program was part of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) held their National
Leadership Summit.
http://hrld.us/2r4TSbw
Marco Rubio says hate crimes are on the
rise, but America is not that divided
MAY 09, 2017 4:44 PM
One-time and perhaps future presidential contender Marco Rubio on Wednesday struck
a hopeful tone in the face of a new data showing an increase in hate crimes and antiSemitism in the United States.
He dismissed suggestions that America is more divided than ever, quipping that the
country is not as divided as it was during the Civil War.
But he warned against defining America as a culture determined by ethnicity – hinting
at the rising nationalism within his own party.
“We cannot afford to take a single step back. And to allow and to accept hate speech in
any form from anyone as an acceptable message ... would be a step back, not a step
forward,” the Florida senator said Tuesday during a speech in Washington, D.C. to the
Anti-Defamation League, an organization that combats anti-Semitism and other forms
of discrimination.
Rubio emphasized repeatedly that fighting hate crimes is a bipartisan issue, as an ADL
poll found 84 percent of Americans believe the government needs to do more to fight
anti-Semitism, and 49 percent said President Donald Trump didn’t do enough to
discourage it on the campaign. Rubio did acknowledge that “hate-based violence and
threats are on the rise,” citing incidents such as multiple Miami-Dade synagogues and
Jewish communities being vandalized with swastikas, as well as specifically
acknowledging needed protection for Arabs, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs.
The same ADL poll found 89 percent of Muslim Americans are concerned about
violence directed at them and at Muslim institutions, and 66 percent said they feel less
safe since Trump was elected.
Though Rubio cited actions of anti-Semitism in the U.S., legislation he has filed on the
subject tends to focus on the issue abroad. He introduced two bills on the subject in
January – the Combating European Anti-Semitism Act of 2017 and the Countering AntiSemitism and Anti-Israel Activities at the United Nations Act of 2017 – neither of which
would address his examples of hate crimes.
Rubio emphasized the need for a change in attitude over one in policy, saying – without
naming specifics – people needed to remember that “ours is not a nation built on blood,
but on soil.” In other words, people are American based on calling the U.S. home, not
based on their ethnicity. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are not
only limited to those born in the U.S., he said.
“The question before us today, on multiple policies before our nation and before our
society, is whether that is still true and whether in fact that remains the unifying theme
and cause of America,” Rubio said.
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/rubios-wife-got-chilling-voicemail/2323264
Rubio's wife got 'chilling' voice mail
Alex Leary, Times Washington Bureau Chief
Tuesday, May 9, 2017 1:14pm
WASHINGTON - Sen. Marco Rubio told the Anti-Defamation League on Tuesday
that hate crimes against all types of people need urgent attention and, to emphasize the
point, said that his wife recently got a "very disturbing" message from a stranger.
"And the most disturbing part of his voice mail … was the calmness in which that hateful
message was delivered," Rubio said at the Mayflower hotel. "I'm not saying it would
have been better. I'm saying it would have probably been less chilling if the person who
left that voice mail was angry and screaming and using profanity. This person was
making this argument as if it was a legitimate and credible political thought."
He did not elaborate other to call it "not just eye-opening but chilling."
The Florida Republican spoke of being vigilant against Anti-Semitism but also espoused
a broad view that people of all backgrounds should be protected, mentioning Arabs and
Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs.
Rubio said the "founding documents of this nation" did not say freedoms were inherent
only to people born in North America and that "the question before us today on multiple
policies before our nation and before our society is whether that is still true and whether
in fact that remains the unifying theme and cause of America."
He spoke of a rising China and declared, "we need everyone."
"We cannot afford to leave a single American behind. We cannot afford to stigmatize a
single American because of who they come from, where they come from, how they
worship, how their name is pronounced, where they were born and who they were born
to," he said as the audience broke into applause.
http://toi.sr/2prR9YC
Rubio touts bipartisan commitment to fighting
anti-Semitism, defending Israel
Florida senator tells ADL that Capitol Hill budget debate will prioritize
ensuring Justice Department, Homeland Security ‘have the resources’ to
protect Jewish community
BY ERIC CORTELLESSA
May 9, 2017
WASHINGTON — Florida Senator Marco Rubio sought to assure a crowd at the AntiDefamation League’s annual summit on Tuesday that there is bipartisan commitment
on Capitol Hill to combating anti-Semitism and defending Israel at the United Nations
and other international forums.
The former Republican presidential candidate spent much of his keynote address at
Washington’s Mayflower Hotel ticking off Senate resolutions and letters signed in recent
months that address the recent uptick in anti-Semitic attacks worldwide.
“As you can see on this front, the news is good, in a sense — that there is a strong
bipartisan commitment,” he said. “Every single one of these measures I just read to you
is bipartisan, includes the leadership of both parties and, in many cases, enjoys the
unanimous support of our members.”
Since January, nearly 150 bomb threats have hit JCCs, Jewish day schools and other
institutions, causing the evacuation of dozens of Jewish community centers
and prompting some parents to remove their children from JCC programs.
Most were found to be the work of an Israeli-American teen from Ashkelon, who has
been charged with making thousands of bomb threats over the last two years.
Rubio cited a letter he signed with all 100 of his Senate colleagues urging Department of
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI
Director James Comey to take more action on the trend of bomb threats that were being
called into Jewish institutions.
“The fact, by the way, that every single member of the senate joined in that effort, I think
is proof that this issue need not be, should not be, and has historically not been, a
partisan one,” Rubio said.
Drawing on that, the Florida lawmaker said it would be a priority in the upcoming
budget battle in Washington to ensure federal agencies like the Justice Department have
“the resources to help Jewish community centers and prove their physical security and
to deter threats, and have the ability to work with local law enforcement to investigate
and prosecute these anonymous cowards who are spreading fear and anxiety, often
impacting the lives of young children.”
Rubio, 45, went on to cite other anti-Semitic incidents that have taken place over the
last several months, including a Jewish student in Georgia who received a note from
another student with a swastika that said “Hitler did the world a favor.”
“The threat of anti-Semitism remains alive,” he said, “and the world has already
witnessed less than a century ago the horrible price to be paid when it is not challenged,
no matter where it begins or who it comes from.”
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, also stressed the bipartisan Senate stance on the
UN’s treatment of Israel.
“The United States cannot stand by and allow the sole democracy in the Middle East and
one of our strongest allies on the planet to be targeted, discriminated against or held to a
different standard than any other UN member state,” he said.
He cited a letter that was signed by all 100 US senators last month to UN SecretaryGeneral António Guterres calling for an end to the world body’s “unacceptable” bias
against Israel.
Rubio also called a UNESCO resolution passed last week that indicated Israel has no
sovereign claim to Jerusalem “shameful.”
“These days, as you probably are well aware, it’s difficult to find much that everyone can
agree on in this city, but the one issue where you will find a united voice on Capitol Hill
is the need to eliminate discriminatory behavior against Israel at international
organizations,” he said.
http://freebeacon.com/politics/rubio-tells-adl-about-very-disturbing-voice-mail-his-wifereceived/
Rubio Tells ADL About ‘Very Disturbing’ Voice
Mail His Wife Received
BY: David Rutz
May 9, 2017 4:14 pm
Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) told the Anti-Defamation League on Tuesday that his wife
recently got a "very disturbing" voice mail from a stranger, and the lawmaker stressed
that crimes against all different types of people merit urgent attention.
Rubio did not elaborate on the specifics of the threat against Jeanette Rubio, but he
said it was "chilling" and delivered with an eerie calmness, according to the Tamp Bay
Times.
"And the most disturbing part of his voice mail … was the calmness in which that hateful
message was delivered," Rubio said at the Mayflower hotel. "I'm not saying it would
have been better. I'm saying it would have probably been less chilling if the person who
left that voice mail was angry and screaming and using profanity. This person was
making this argument as if it was a legitimate and credible political thought."
He did not elaborate other than to call it "not just eye-opening but chilling."
The Florida Republican spoke of being vigilant against Anti-Semitism but also espoused
a broad view that people of all backgrounds should be protected, mentioning Arabs and
Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs.
Rubio is currently serving a second term as a senator from Florida. He launched an
unsuccessful bid for the 2016 Republican nomination for president, but he was
reelected to his Senate seat in November.
The Rubios married in 1998, and they have four children.
http://www.jta.org/2017/05/09/news-opinion/politics/trump-fires-fbi-director-comey-aides-citehandling-of-clinton-emails
Trump fires FBI director Comey; aides cite
handling of Clinton emails case
May 9, 2017 6:14pm
FBI Director James Comey addressing the Anti-Defamation League in Washington, D.C., May 8, 2017. (Carl
Cox/ADL)
(JTA) — President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on the same day that
reports indicated Comey misstated, during testimony to the Senate Judiciary
Committee, the involvement of Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her nowestranged husband Anthony Weiner in the email scandal his office investigated.
The firing also came as Comey is leading investigations into allegations that the Trump
campaign and transition team had inappropriate contacts with Russia.
In a statement from the press secretary late Tuesday afternoon, the White House said
Comey’s firing “will mark a new beginning” for the FBI. The statement said the search
for a new director will begin immediately.
In a memorandum commenting on Comey’s firing, Deputy Attorney General Rod
Rosenstein said the “FBI’s reputation and credibility suffered substantial damage” over
the past year. The letter chided Comey for his conclusion, announced at a news
conference on July 5, 2016, that as secretary of state, Clinton demonstrated no criminal
intent in her handling of classified emails and that he was closing the case against her.
“I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal conclusion that he was
mistaken,” Rosenstein wrote.
Trump in a letter to Comey mentioned investigations into allegations that the Trump
campaign had ties to Russia as a factor, although he did not make it clear why he was
mentioning the investigations, and whether and in what way they were a factor in
Comey’s firing.
“While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not
under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of
Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau,” Trump wrote.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., rejected the contention that the firing owed to Comey’s
handling of the Clinton case, linking it instead to the FBI’s ongoing investigation into
alleged contacts between Trump campaign aides and Russian operatives.
“Don’t be fooled, this is about Comey investigating #TrumpRussia. Trump’s justification
is nothing but pretext to stop investigation,” Nadler tweeted.
During the Senate committee hearing on May 3, ranking committee member Sen.
Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked why Comey felt it was necessary for the FBI director to
reveal on Oct. 28, less than two weeks before the presidential election, that he was set
to reopen an investigation into whether Clinton, the Democratic nominee, had criminal
intent when as secretary of state she conducted government business through private
email.
Comey explained there was evidence that new emails from Clinton could be found on a
laptop seized from Weiner, the Jewish former congressman who resigned in a sexting
scandal and now is under investigation allegedly for sexting with a minor. Included
were emails from a private Clinton email account that the FBI had yet to access, Comey
told Feinstein, explaining that the emails had come from Abedin.
Comey said that Abedin was forwarding hundreds of thousands of emails, some with
classified information, to her husband to print out for her.
Pro-Publica and The Washington Post, citing unnamed FBI officials close to the
investigation, reported Tuesday that Abedin occasionally forwarded a small number of
emails to her husband for printing and that none were marked classified, though a
small number were later deemed to contain classified information.
Comey said the FBI found no basis for concluding that Abedin or Weiner had acted with
criminal intent.
On Monday, Comey addressed the Anti-Defamation League at its annual
conference in Washington, D.C., calling for improvements in how law
enforcement reports hate crimes.
“We must do a better job of tracking and reporting hate crime to fully understand
what is happening in our country so we can stop it,” he told the group. “Some
jurisdictions do not report hate crime data.”
http://bit.ly/2pApMMQ
HEARD YESTERDAY - Senator Marco Rubio at the ADL
conference in Washington, DC: "In a disturbing echo of Germany's
anti-Jewish boycotts of the 1930s, we also see today's boycott, sanctions,
and divestment movement (BDS), which engages in economic warfare
against the Jewish state... These days, as you are probably well aware, it's
difficult to find much that everyone can agree upon in this city. But, the one
issue that you will find a united voice on Capitol Hill is on the need to
eliminate discriminatory behavior against Israel at international
organizations. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and I recently led a bipartisan
effort to the UN Secretary General that was signed by all 100 members of
the US senate urging him to counter the anti-Israel bias at the UN."
JI PLUG -- ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt during a panel ‘Decoding
the News: Navigating Conspiracies, Infotainment & Evidence Free News’: “I
am going to make a plug for Jewish Insider, by the way." Fellow
panelist Jeffrey Herbst, CEO of the Newseum:"And I get the Jewish
Insider push also."
http://jewishinsider.com/11560/wine-in-hand-ana-navarros-freewheeling-adl-speech/
Wine in Hand, Ana Navarro’s Freewheeling
ADL Speech
By Jacob Kornbluh on Monday, May 8, 2017
Republican strategist and political commentator Ana Navarro, sipping from a glass of
wine, veered on and off script as she addressed the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
National Leadership Summit in Washington, DC on Monday night.
Navarro, who is known for her fierce opposition to Donald Trump in her capacity as a
political contributor on CNN, recounted the controversial moments of the 2016
presidential campaign, concluding that the Jewish community cannot rely on President
Trump to stand up against bigotry and anti-Semitism. “Donald Trump has not made
America great again,” she said, “Donald Trump has made American hate again. Today,
we have a President who is either a bigot or has complacently allowed it because it
served his political purposes. And it did – he won. But that was the wrong thing to do.”
In between those remarks, Navarro — either for the purpose of entertaining or under the
influence of wine — took no prisoners while discussing the Trump Administration.
From her intro: “Did you guys hear how Barbra Streisand is blaming her weight gain on
Trump? Stop laughing! I am too. It’s like I am pregnant with this baby, Rosemary’s
baby. I do not know what to do about this. I cannot stop eating and drinking since this
man got elected… By the way, are there any Trump supporters in the room? Go ahead,
this is a room full of great tolerance. We can accept you. You might be in the wrong
room, though. If there are any Trump supporters here, you’re welcome. Put your knives
down. I will find something nice to say about him: He’s been good for Israel. Okay, I am
done. I should also tell you… I am Ashkenazi Jewish — and Sephardic. And I am also the
descendant of slaves, and Hispanic. So basically, Donald Trump has offended all of me,
every single part of me. I ended up having an unbroken DNA thread with Amy Schumer,
which means I am also a distant cousin of Chuck Schumer. Oy!”
Viewer discretion advised: “I know you all stand against defamation, but I am going to
ask for a little bit dispensation today. Can I? Look, there is no way I can talk about the
state of our government, about the state of politics today without attacking a couple of
people. But if it’s warranted, accurate and true, it’s not defamation. It’s justice.”
The one good thing about Trump: “Like I said, I am going to say one good thing about
Donald Trump today: I think he has been supportive of Israel’s right to exist. I am not
sure he can find Israel on the map. I am not sure he doesn’t think it’s a deli in the Bronx.
But nevertheless, he’s been supportive and for that one little thing, I am grateful… Other
than liking matzah — in the same way he likes taco bowls — Donald Trump does
understand that Israel has the right to exist, and that is – in my eyes – one of his few
saving graces.”
On Jared’s Middle East portfolio: “I am not sure how much Jared understands [about
the Middle East], but, you know, he’s got a lot on his plate. Keeping Ivanka happy can’t
be easy. Getting his family out of financial straits can’t be easy either.”
On Steve Bannon: “What do you do with Steve Bannon? I don’t know what to tell you.
Look — oy! They keep saying that Jared and Ivanka are Jewish, so, you know, Trump is
good because his daughter and son-in-law are Jewish. Well, go to them. I mean, surely
you’ve got friends who know these people. Um. Hell, even I have friends who know these
people. That’s why I am not deported yet – yet.”
http://www.jweekly.com/2017/05/10/farewell-to-fbi-director-james-comey-friend-of-jews/
Farewell to FBI director James Comey, friend
of Jews
BY J. EDITORIAL BOARD | MAY 10, 2017
FBI Director James Comey addressing the Anti-Defamation League in Washington, D.C., May 8, 2017. (Carl
Cox/ADL)
James Comey, arguably the most controversial FBI director since J. Edgar Hoover, was
unexpectedly fired by President Donald Trump this week. And while the administration
reaps the whirlwind of this highly unorthodox move, we pause to offer a word of thanks
to the departing director.
Throughout his career, Comey enjoyed a reputation of rectitude, dedication and
thoroughness. That reputation took a hit during the 2016 presidential race, first with
his half-hearted exoneration of Hillary Clinton’s email practice and then with a lastminute threat to reopen his investigation of her.
He is certainly not above criticism, but as our story this week notes, Comey also
did extraordinary outreach to the Jewish community during his tenure as director, and
he deserves praise for it.
On his watch, the fight against hate crimes — including hate crimes against Jews —
became a priority. He regularly conferred with the Anti-Defamation League
and spoke at its conventions. More recently, he proved indefatigable in investigating
a spate of JCC bomb hoaxes, solving some of those cases.
Less dramatically, but perhaps more tellingly, Comey instructed all FBI employees to
tour the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., not only for the history
lesson, but as a reminder that democracies need constant tending, lest they fall prey to
incremental tyranny.
Many political observers are seeing just such an increment with Comey’s dismissal.
It is impossible not to cast suspicion on the president’s motives and timing. The given
reason — that Comey did not properly handle the Clinton investigation last year — is
laughable, given Trump’s effusive praise of Comey precisely for how he was handling it.
And despite what Trump said in his termination letter to Comey, the FBI is engaged in
an investigation of administration figures and their ties to Russia. The day before his
firing, Comey asked the Department of Justice for additional funding for the
investigation.
If Trump thought firing Comey would quell that investigation or quiet his critics, he is
mistaken. This action smacks of cover-up or worse. We hope the truth will out, but it
will take men and women on both sides of the aisle willing to put the needs and
integrity of the country ahead of partisan politics.
For the record, we demand the appointment of a special prosecutor to look into TrumpRussia connections and Russia’s meddling in last year’s election.
Also for the record, we salute James Comey for a lifetime of service to his country and to
the American people.