FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Donald Trump’s suggestion that a high-ranking FBI official helped Hillary Clinton during the email investigation because of campaign donations to the official’s wife is off base and untrue, Politifact reports. 

Like many of Trump’s claims, this one distorts the truth by misleading people about the timeframe for the donations to Dr. Jill McCabe, who was recruited to run for one of the 40 seats in the Virginia Senate. At the time of the March 2015 donation, the pediatrician’s husband, Andrew McCabe, was focusing on terrorism while working as an assistant director of the FBI’s find office in Washington.

McCabe “consulted with top FBI headquarters and field office ethics officers for guidance, including briefings on the Hatch Act, to prevent against any actual or potential conflict-of-interest, in the event she decided to go forward,” the FBI said in a statement.

Not until three months after McCabe lost the race, Andrew McCabe became the FBI’s deputy director on Feb. 1, 2016. That was the first time he had any oversight of the clinton case. 

“Months after the completion of (his wife’s) campaign, then-Associate Deputy Director McCabe was promoted to Deputy, where, in that position, he assumed for the first time, an oversight role in the investigation into Secretary Clinton’s emails,” according to the FBI statement.

Trump also falsely claimed that Andrew McCabe was responsible for deciding whether to recommend prosecution. That decision was actually FBI Director James Comey’s.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Careful what you say at a bar.

The Secret Service and police detained a man after a patron said he overheard the suspect threaten Donald Trump in a Brooklyn bar, the New York Daily News reports. 

The patron said he overheard Gregory Chang threaten the life of Trump at bar in Williamsburg at about 3:40 p.m.

“I’m going to Lee Harvey Oswald Donald Trump,” Chang is accused of saying. 

After the patron heard Chang’s alleged comments, he called police.

Chang was detained and questioned by officers and members of the Secret Service.

He has released without charges.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Secret Service agents who are on the campaign trail are working hundreds of hours of overtime without pay because of a cap on federal income.

Since early 2016, agents have worked overtime for free because of the demanding scheduling during this unusual election cycle, BuzzFeed reports. 

While Secret Service agents are routinely paid overtime, unlike many of their federal cohorts, they are hitting caps on overtime pay.

Agents are prohibited from making more than $160,3000 a year, even if they work around-the-clock.

As a result, hundreds of agents will never get paid for their extra time.

The Senate and House were considering raising the cap by about $10,000, but the measures have essentially stalled.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A new Customs and Border Protection command center is under construction at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley, Calif.

Federal officials celebrated the new construction Wednesday during a groundbreaking ceremony, Patch.com reports. 

The Air and Marine Operations Center is expected to cost $11 million and be built over the next 12 months. The center will replace an adjacent facility that was built in 1988 and lacks space.

Patch wrote:

The AMOC serves as the coordination hub for interdiction missions off the California coast as well as airborne interdiction missions along the U.S.- Mexico border, according to the CBP.

Personnel monitor air and sea traffic on a 24-hour basis. The new building will house the latest data processing, telecommunications and satellite-based tracking hardware available, according to the agency, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

In addition to coordinating helicopter and fixed-wing intercepts, the AMOC also handles unmanned aerial vehicle deployments, according to the CBP’s website.

Donald Trump

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

In typical Donald Trump fashion, the Republican presidential candidate doesn’t buy the federal government’s belief that Russia is trying to influence the election by hacking Democrats.

Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said Tuesday that he warned Trump about the Russian hacks, but Trump promptly rejected the information, CBS News reports. 

“I think he has in his mind that there’s not the proof,” McCaul, a Trump supporter, said at the event in Austin, according to video obtained by Politico. “Now he hasn’t had the briefing I’ve had, but I made it clear that in my judgment it was a nation-state.”

During the final debate last week, Trump again said he didn’t believe Russia was responsible for the hacks.

“She has no idea whether it’s Russia, China, or anybody else,” Trump said. “Hillary, you have no idea.”

The federal government indicated for the first time earlier this month that Russia is behind the hacking of U.S. political groups.

“The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a joint statement with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

Other Stories of Interest

• Officials Frustrated Over FBI Headquarters Site Delay
• Ex-Trooper Snared in Net of FBI Public Corruption Probe
• FBI Investigates White Powder at New Haven Register
• Ex-Secret Service Officer Behind Clinton Tell-All Planning Defamation Suit
• DOJ Says Effort to Stop Voter Fraud Are Illegal