By Dan Calabrese —— Bio and Archives January 11, 2018
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The Department of Justice announced Thursday that it is creating a task force to take a fresh look at drug-trafficking and money-laundering operations linked to Hezbollah after an investigative report last month claimed that the Obama administration turned a blind eye to such activities to preserve the Iran nuclear deal. The task force, dubbed the Hezbollah Financing and Narcoterrorism Team (HFNT), will begin its work by reviewing investigations stemming from Project Cassandra, a campaign led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) targeting the Lebanese terror group’s actions. According to a Politico report published last month, officials with the Obama Justice and Treasury Departments repeatedly delayed or rejected requests by Project Cassandra leaders to pursue significant investigations, prosecutors or sanctions.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered a review of Project Cassandra days after the Politico report was published. Justice Department officials told Fox News at the time that the review could lead to new prosecutions of people affiliated with Hezbollah. “The Justice Department will leave no stone unturned in order to eliminate threats to our citizens from terrorist organizations and to stem the tide of the devastating drug crisis,” Sessions said in a statement announcing the formation of HFNT.Hopefully Peter Strzok is not the lead investigator. I hate to even joke about that, but if there's one thing we've learned from the Hillary/e-mail/Trump/Russia thing it's that there are plenty of political agendas within the FBI and the DOJ. And until we learn exactly what was in the FISA application for the wiretapping of Carter Page, we won't know the full extent of how badly the FBI was abusing its power to aid Hillary, or exactly which details of that effort the FBI remains afraid to let the public see. That said, the whitewash of the Hillary e-mail case was clearly on the orders of Obama and Loretta Lynch. Their roles are now filled by Trump and Sessions. If Trump and Sessions make it known that they want this investigation to be pursued doggedly, with no agenda but the truth being served, can we be confident that this is what the FBI will do? For the sake of discussion, let's assume so. And let's assume they find that the Politico report was more or less accurate, and that Obama did indeed order foot-dragging on the Hezbollah narcoterror investigation in order to protect the Iran deal negotiations. Is there a criminal charge there? I don't see how. As chief law enforcement officer of the United States, Obama had the authority to direct the DOJ to prosecute some cases or not prosecute others. If he choose unwisely, that is forever to his shame and discredit, but I don't think it was a crime provided he didn't break the law in trying to cover it up.
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