Pam's Points: Who needs Russian hacks when we have the FBI?

Part of a Nov. 6, 2016, letter from FBI director James Comey to Congress is photographed in Washington, Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016. Comey tells Congress that a review of new Hillary Clinton emails has "not changed our conclusions" from earlier this year that she should not face charges. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
Part of a Nov. 6, 2016, letter from FBI director James Comey to Congress is photographed in Washington, Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016. Comey tells Congress that a review of new Hillary Clinton emails has "not changed our conclusions" from earlier this year that she should not face charges. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

Homegrown election interference

Aside from the fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his countrymen are trying to interfere with our American election, there's also the interference of our own FBI.

A week ago, FBI Director James Comey intervened in the presidential campaign with a vague letter to Congress about Hillary Clinton emails. The letter - raising the spectre of more emails on a laptop owned by disgraced Anthony Weiner, estranged husband of Clinton's top aide - raised more questions and innuendo than it offered answers.

Within days, Reuters was reporting that Comey "was driven in part by a fear of leaks from within his agency." Those fearful leaks were from "a faction of investigators" based in the FBI's New York Field Office and "known to be hostile to Hillary Clinton," according to Reuters.

From there, The Guardian picked up the story and began reporting: "The FBI is Trumpland," one FBI source told The Guardian.

It seems these FBI malcontents were stirred up over a year ago by claims in a book by conservative author Peter Schweizer. His book, "Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich," was the topic of an FBI meeting in the New York FBI office where many of the malcontents work or worked.

The same book, however, was roundly panned by Media Matters.

"Schweizer has a disreputable history of reporting marked by errors and retractions, with numerous reporters excoriating him for facts that 'do not check out,' sources that 'do not exist,' and a basic failure to practice 'journalism 101.' Clinton Cash is similarly a trainwreck of bogus research that included more than 20 errors, fabrications, and distortions, according to a Media Matters review."

That's hardly the end of this conspiracy. Schweizer is also the president of Government Accountability Institute, a right-wing group that purports to investigate "government corruption" and is led in part by Steve Bannon, the chairman of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Bannon helped create a movie version of the book. And the former law firm of Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani, who hinted at the Comey bombshell two days before the letter was sent to Congress, represents an FBI agents group.

The Guardian writes that its FBI source said: "Clinton is 'the antichrist personified to a large swath of FBI personnel,' and 'the reason why they're leaking is they're pro-Trump.'" The agent told the Guardian some colleagues openly discussed voting for a GOP nominee who has garnered unprecedented condemnation from the party's national security wing and who has pledged to jail Clinton if elected.

Perhaps the FBI should investigate itself. Among questions to ask should be why the overly white and overly male FBI is so enchanted with Trump. But wait, maybe those facts speak for themselves.

Beware of social media news

Beware this week of Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms bearing election-related "news."

The U.S. government officials told NBC Friday they believe hackers from Russia or elsewhere may try to undermine Tuesday's presidential election.

The officials said they are mounting an unprecedented effort to counter any cyber meddling. They are preparing for worst-case scenarios, including a cyber-attack that shuts down part of the power grid or the internet - something similar to the Oct. 21 widespread internet disruption, which Homeland Security suggested was an election hacker "drill."

But officials say it is more likely we may see lower-level hacking efforts to peddle misinformation through Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. For example, authorities fear an 11th-hour release of fake documents implicating one of the candidates in an explosive scandal without time for the news media to fact check it.

So far, document dumps attributed to the Russians have damaged Democrats and favored Trump.

The counter-hacking effort is being coordinated by the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, but reaches across the government to include the CIA, the National Security Agency and other elements of the Defense Department, current and former officials told NBC.

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