By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

The salacious dossier that paints President Donald Trump in a less than favorable light continues to haunt the commander-in-chief, who has done everything to try and discredit it.

The latest: On Thursday Trump suggested  the Democratic Party, the FBI or the Kremlin could have bankrolled the report, that has yet to be substantiated by anyone in Washington, Politico reports.

“Workers of firm involved with the discredited and Fake Dossier take the 5th. Who paid for it, Russia, the FBI or the Dems (or all)?” Trump wrote on Twitter Thursday. He did not offer any evidence to support his suggestion that Russia, the FBI or the Democratic Party funded the dossier.

Two officials from the firm behind the dossier, Fusion GPS, appeared before the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, but answered no questions, and instead invoking their fifth amendment rights against self-incrimination, Bloomberg reports.

Robert Lasky

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

Robert F. Lasky has been named head of the FBI’s Miami Division, replacing George Piro, who is going to headquarters. He most recently served as the special agent in charge of the Mobile Division.

Lasky entered on duty with the FBI in 1998, and was first assigned to the San Francisco Division, where he investigated public corruption and drug matters relating to Mexican Organized crime. In 2000, he transferred to the U.S. Virgin Islands to investigate international criminal enterprises and public corruption before transferring to the Springfield Division.

Throughout his career, he has held leadership positions in the Criminal Investigative Division, the Birmingham Division’s Gadsden Resident Agency, the Salt Lake City Division’s Helena Resident Agency and as special assistant to the associate deputy director at FBI headquarters.

FBI Director Christopher A. Wray also announced the appointment of Paul D. Delacourt as the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.

Paul D. Delacourt

Delacourt moves from the Honolulu Division where he was special agent in charged.

Delacourt entered the the FBI in 1995 where he was first assigned to the Chicago Division, where he worked gang and drug investigations and was a member of the SWAT team. Following 9/11, he transferred to the Counterterrorism Division, working on a temporary assignment to the Guantanamo Bay Task Force at FBI headquarters. He was also deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Throughout his career, Delacourt has held leadership positions in the Counterterrorism Division at FBI Headquarters, in the Atlanta Division, as the FBI deputy on-scene commander in Afghanistan, in the Honolulu Division, and in the Inspection Division at FBI headquarters.

FBI Agent George Piro interviewed on 60 Minutes in 2008

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

George Piro, the Beirut-born Assyrian-American  FBI agent who was the team leaders and lead interrogator of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, has been named assistant director of the International Operations Division at FBI headquarters. His most recent assignment was head of the Miami field office.

Piro joined the FBI in 1999, and was first assigned to the Phoenix Division, where he worked international terrorism cases.

During his FBI career,  Mr. Piro has held leadership positions in the Counterterrorism Division, the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate, the Washington Field Office and as a member of the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group.

President Trump

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

President Trump accused former FBI Director James Comey of trying to protect Hillary Clinton from prosecution “long before investigation was complete.”

In a pair of tweets, Trump pointed to the recently disclosed Justice Department documents that indicated a draft of a Comey statement was circulating among aides in May 2016, two months before Comey’s announcement that there would be no recommended charges, the Washington Post. 

The Post wrote:

Wow, FBI confirms report that James Comey drafted letter exonerating Crooked Hillary Clinton long before investigation was complete. Many..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2017

• Trump’s tweets revive his feud with Comey, whom he fired in May, and the Democratic opponent he defeated last year. He has twice this week referred to Clinton as “Crooked Hillary,” his campaign trail nickname for her.
• Trump said Comey had “stated under oath that he didn’t do this,” in apparent reference to Comey’s Senate testimony in which he said there was no criminal case to bring. In his tweet Wednesday, Trump asked, “Where is Justice Dept?” apparently inviting an investigation into the existence of the 2016 email chain.

Former FBI Director James Comey testifies about President Trump before the Senate Intelligence Committee in early June.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

FBI Director James Comey drafted a statement about the conclusion of the Hillary Clinton investigation months before the former secretary of state was even interviewed, according to documents released Monday. 

A vast majority of the documents were redacted and posted to the FBI’s “Vault” Freedom of Information Act reading room.

The documents confirm assertions by Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. Lindsey Graham that Comey drafted his statement ahead of the investigation’s closure.

It’s unclear whether the Comey violated any rules by drafting the statement before the interview with Clinton.

President Trump, via White House

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Amid months of speculation that Donald Trump may fire the Justice Department’s special counsel, the president said Monday he is not considering terminating Robert Mueller, who is leading the investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump made the pronouncement when asked about the investigation by reporters in the Rose Garden, CNN reports. 

“The whole Russian thing was an excuse for the Democrats losing the election,” Trump said before adding there’s been “absolutely no collusion.”

“It’s been stated that they have no collusion. They ought to get to the end of it because I think the American public is sick of it.”

Rep. Tom Marino

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

President Trump’s top pick for the nation’s drug czar, Rep. Tom Marino, has withdrawn his name from consideration, Trump tweeted Tuesday morning.

Calls mounted for Trump to dump Marino following a scathing Washington Post/“60 Minutes” story that exposed the congressman for siding with drug companies over the DEA’s battle to address the opioid crisis.

On Twitter, Trump wrote, “Rep.Tom Marino has informed me that he is withdrawing his name from consideration as drug czar. Tom is a fine man and a great Congressman!”

Trump told reporters Monday that he “will make a change” if he decides Marino’s actions curbed the fight against opioid abuse.

Other Stories of Interest

• FBI Report Accounts for 118 Police Officers Killed in Line of Duty in 2016
• FBI, DC Police Ask for Public’s Help Finding Missing 11-Year-Old
• Thurgood Marshall Had a Secret Relationship with the FBI
• FBI: 16-Year-Old Used Nude Photos Blackmail Dozens of Classmates
• DEA to Kick Off Annual Red Ribbon Campaign

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

An FBI investigation into corruption at the Honolulu Police Department resulted in the arrests of a current and former police officer Sunday.

Arrested were Officer Bobby Nguyen from the department’s Criminal Intelligence Unit and retired Officer Gordon Shiraishi, who was also with the intelligence unit, the Associated Press reports. 

The FBI has declined to discuss details of the investigation, but the probe was prompted by a federal investigation into retired Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha and his wife, Deputy Prosecutor Katherine Kealoha.

That case has been under investigation for at least two years.