Rep. Cummings: Gowdy fabricated redactions on Clinton's email to make it look like she'd outed a spy

[bigtree]

Brian Beutler @brianbeutler
Gowdy fabricated redactions on to Clinton's email to make it look like she'd outed a spy. democrats.benghazi.house.gov/news/press-releases/cia-debunks-gowdy-s-allegation-that-clinton-email-contained-classified-cia …



Oct 18, 2015
Press Release
Cummings Calls on Gowdy to Apologize to Clinton

WASHINGTON—Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, sent a letter to Chairman Trey Gowdy to correct the public record after the CIA debunked Chairman Gowdy’s accusation that Secretary Clinton sent an email containing "some of the most protected information in our intelligence community, the release of which could jeopardize not only national security but human lives.”

The full letter is online here and as follows:

Dear Mr. Chairman:

On October 7, 2015, you sent me a 13-page letter making a grave new accusation against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Specifically, you accused her of compromising national security and endangering lives.

The problem with your accusation—as with so many others during this investigation—is that you failed to check your facts before you made it, and the CIA has now informed the Select Committee that you were wrong. I believe your accusations were irresponsible, and I believe you owe the Secretary an immediate apology.

It appears that your letter was rushed out to the press to counter the public firestorm caused by Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s stark admission that Republicans are using millions of taxpayer dollars to damage Secretary Clinton’s bid for president. However, your letter only provided further evidence of this fact.

In your letter on October 7, 2015, you stated that Secretary Clinton received an email from Sidney Blumenthal on March 18, 2011, that included the name of someone who purportedly provided information to the CIA. You asserted that this information was classified, arguing that Secretary Clinton “received classified information from Blumenthal—information she should have known was classified at the time she received it.” You then alleged:

Armed with that information, Secretary Clinton forwarded that email to a colleague—debunking her claim that she never sent any classified information from her private email address.

In your letter, you went to great lengths to highlight the gravity of your accusation, stating:

This information, the name of a human source, is some of the most protected information in our intelligence community, the release of which could jeopardize not only national security but human lives.

To further inflate your claim, you placed your own redactions over the name of the individual with the words, “redacted due to sources and methods.” To be clear, these redactions were not made, and these words were not added, by any agency of the federal government responsible for enforcing classification guidelines.

Predictably, commentators began repeating your accusations in even more extreme terms, suggesting in headlines for example that “Clinton Burns CIA Libya Contact.”

Contrary to your claims, the CIA yesterday informed both the Republican and Democratic staffs of the Select Committee that they do not consider the information you highlighted in your letter to be classified. Specifically, the CIA confirmed that “the State Department consulted with the CIA on this production, the CIA reviewed these documents, and the CIA made no redactions to protect classified information.”

Unfortunately, you sent your letter on October 7 without checking first with the CIA. Now that we have done so, we have learned that your accusations were incorrect.

As a result of your actions, the State Department yesterday asked the Select Committee not to reveal the individual’s name publicly, not for classification reasons, but to protect the individual’s privacy and avoid bringing additional undue attention to this person.

Unfortunately, the standard operating procedure of this Select Committee has become to put out information publicly that is inaccurate and out of context in order to attack Secretary Clinton for political reasons. These repeated actions bring discredit on this investigation and undermine the integrity of the Select Committee and the House of Representatives.

Sincerely,

Elijah E. Cummings
Ranking Member

[BootinUp]

1. Maybe some republicans will hold their breath waiting for him to apologize. nt

[Dont call me Shirley]

29. Apologize? Isn't what Gowdy did a crime?

[Sheepshank]

39. Yes...manufacturing evidence should be more than just immoral nt

[Stonepounder]

55. Seems to me that Justice should investigate whether this rises to the level of

"High Crimes and Misdemeanors". If they could impeach Bill Clinton for getting a BJ and lying about it, they could impeach Gowdy for knowing falsifying evidence.

From the LegalMatch Law Library:

"Falsifying documents” is a type of white collar crime. It involves altering, changing, or modifying a document for the purpose of deceiving another person. It can also involve the passing along of copies of documents that are known to be false. In many states, falsifying a document is a crime punishable as a felony." (emphasis added)

[workinclasszero]

56. Yeah I don't think you can just

apologize for committing a crime.

At a minimum Gowdy stole millions of taxpayer dollars for his Glacial Pace wine drinking/Kill Hillary Clinton club.

He should be personally responsible for paying back into the treasury every single cent of that money plus jail time.

[think]

2. Thank you Rep. Cummings for calling Gowdy on his bullshit. /nt

[enid602]

3. reverse

This is starting to sound like "drip, drip, drip" in reverse.

[jberryhill]

15. Yep. Goody sure knows what to do with his rope

This committee is not going to end well for some of its leading members.

[brush]

31. What? You have a problem with repug lies of the worst sort being revealed?

[Snarkoleptic]

4. This is particularly rich in light of the fact that Bewsh/Cheney outed CIA Operative, Valerie Plame.

n/t

[lastone]

8. Agreed, this "investigation" has...

Taken longer than WATERGATE! This bullshit has gone on long enough, that freaking asshole dipshit Kevin McCarthy spilled it on national freaking tv for f°*ks sake!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

21. Bush/Cheney have had their way for so long

[virtualobserver]

5. Seems like something that should be against the law.

[Fred Sanders]

7. Altering government- held documents to create a false impression to take down a rival politician

all the while using taxpayer money and taxpayer time?

It used to be called criminal and corruption....I think it still is.

[virtualobserver]

9. sounds like a job for the Attorney General to me

[sufrommich]

14. I wonder if it would be considered tampering with

evidence? I sincerely hope this ends with serious problems for the GOP.

[WIProgressive88]

6. Apologize? Nah, I think resigning would be the more appropriate move for this clown to make.

[workinclasszero]

10. When is this teahaddist SOB

Going to be charged with a crime? The democrats need to set up a committee to investigate this republican witch hunt against Hillary

[Rosa Luxemburg]

13. Republicans should be made to pay back the tax payers' money they've wasted on this

This has cost us millions of dollars - for a witch hunt.

[Plucketeer]

20. They'll "pay for it"

Just as soon as they find some other program they can cut to provide the payments.

[workinclasszero]

36. Right and that's the minimum

It cannot be legal to call witnesses for a sham show trial that the members know is a cover for republicans trying to stop Hillary from being elected president.
They have and still are spending millions of public money on this horses***, how is this not against the law?

[kelliekat44]

12. This is outrageous! And yet, many here are silent. If this crime were against Bernie imagine what

this thread would look like. This asses will be coming after him soon I am sure. And they will be using the same shameful tactics.

[randome]

16. I think we've reached a tipping point and the committee will be disbanded.

The news keeps getting worse and worse for the GOP and it can no longer be explained away with obfuscation and 'a search for the truth'.

McCarthy's comments, Wine Wednesdays and now this. There are certain segments of the GOP that really want this whole thing to go away and I think they will eventually get their way.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Treat your body like a machine. Your mind like a castle.[/center][/font][hr]

[mcar]

17. Way way more important than emails

But what's still getting more attention?

Thank you Rep. Cummings.

[pnwmom]

18. Thank you for posting this. Bernie supporters should be just as outraged

at the committee's abuse of power as anyone.

Or is the new standard that any attack is okay as long as it is against HRC?

[Plucketeer]

22. I'm outraged!

And I wouldn't care WHO this skullduggery could've been aimed at. This dweeb, Gowdy, needs to be sent back to the private sector. He's got a great resume as a septic tank pump operator.

[pnwmom]

24. Thanks for your post!

[femmedem]

47. I'm a Bernie supporter and I'm outraged as well.

I support Bernie over Hillary in the primary, but I (a) despise abuse of power and (b) would far prefer Hillary to any of the Republicans.

During a primary, people do argue for their candidate of choice, but that doesn't mean that "any attack is okay as long as it is against HRC." That was uncalled for.

[El Shaman]

19. This little

Teabilly should apologize to Ms. Clinton, resign from the House of Reps and have President Obama command him back to 'boot camp' as an E-0 .
And then find some suitable form of punishment for his scrowny ass.

[awoke_in_2003]

62. Put him in jail...

Screw his resignation. Nixon resigned, too, and should have been nailed to the wall.

[cui bono]

23. When does this guy get charged with a crime???

The lengths these assholes go to is literally criminal.

[oasis]

25. "Failed to check your facts"?

How about, Gowdy knew what the facts were and just flat out lied?

[DCBob]

26. Wow.. this is getting really ugly for Gowdy and his fake scandal committee.

Good this came out now. Great timing just before the hearing.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

27. Idea stolen from, "This Week In Unnecessary Censorship".

[MADem]

28. Shades of "UNNECESSARY CENSORSHIP!!!!"

Elijah Cummings is the MAN!!!!

[shenmue]

30. Excuse me, that is fraud, and somebody needs to go to the pokey

[leftyladyfrommo]

32. Wow!

Those guys just will stop at nothing.

That is so disgusting. Isn't there an ethics committee that deals with stuff like that?

I can't believe what the Clintons have put up with. They have been accused of doing everything under the sun-even murder. Nothing has ever been substantiated by anybody.

This isn't just dirty politics. It's awful.

[mountain grammy]

33. Dear Mr. Chairman,

you are a lying sack of shit.

Sincerely,

The American people

[FarPoint]

34. This makes me sick I tell ya....

Ultimately... We mush regain control of the House and Senate.... That is where change can begin... Damn.... We have a lot of work to do folks.

[Agschmid]

35. So rediculous.

[riversedge]

37. Trickle down Republican scandal

[Sheepshank]

38. Gowdy manufactured evidence to hurt Clinton

Slime bucket should be locked up.

[Agschmid]

40. Can't kick this enough.

[Vattel]

41. Gowdy should resign immediately from the House Select Committee on Benghazi.

I am surprised that Cummings didn't demand resignation.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

43. i agree

[BlueCheese]

42. This is extremely low, slimy, gutter politics.

Utterly contemptible.

[mcar]

44. Kick

[Gothmog]

45. Howdy Gowdy needs to resign in shame

[zappaman]

46. A lot of DUers suddenly got quiet.

[bigtree]

48. suddenly

...probably realizing attaching themselves to the republican campaign against Clinton isn't as progressive as they might have thought.

[leftofcool]

54. I noticed that.

[Starry Messenger]

57. Cricket sales are brisk today!

[CajunBlazer]

49. K&R

[UCmeNdc]

50. Republicans are cold bloodied liars.

[geek75]

51. It's all a sham

[NoMoreRepugs]

52. just imagine if this was a Democratic led investigation and

some Dem had done this - teabilly heads would be exploding everywhere.

Howdy Doody is banking on Clinton's Thursday appearance to exonerate him somehow, I think he underestimates HRC's being able to defend herself under pressure...

[Cyrano]

53. Nothing will happen

War criminals Cheney/Bush/Rumsfeld are still walking around free. The Justice Department will not go after Trey Gowdy (a man who looks like his head got squeezed in a wood-shop vice.)

This is just how Washington works. If any of us "regular citizens" did any of these kind of things, we'd be sitting in jail for decades. The same rules don't apply to the elected critters in congress.

[vkkv]

58. Holy Crap! Republicans will stop at NOTHING!!

I fear for our 2016 election....

[SCantiGOP]

59. K&R

Someone has posted this BS as a fact elsewhere on DU. Very sad.

[zazen]

60. why isn't this criminal tampering/interfering with and thus obstructing federal investigation?

Obama's Justice Department and off-the-table Pelosi won't go after this criminal, and we can't expect him to be held to any standards within his own party since they're competing to out-crazy each other.

Others have been prosecuted for much less.


Sickening!!

[sheshe2]

61. KnR!

Thanks for posting the facts, bigtree.

[3catwoman3]

63. Representative Cummings is cut from the same cloth as President Obama...

...when it comes to dignity and grace under pressure. He had to work with Issa and now Gowdy.

I hope HRC puts Gowdy in his place.

[DCBob]

64. We now need an investigation of Gowdy.

[NonMetro]

65. Thank You Rep Cummings For Exposing this Dastardly Plot To Defame Hillary Clinton

Of course, we already knew there was one a few weeks ago. So, having been face to face with Gowdy for over a year now, when exactly did you suspect something dirty was going on? Or did you learn that when the rest of us did? How about the rest of the Democrats on the committee? When were they planning to expose this dirty business? If Mr. McCarthy had not accidentally admitted it, would we have ever found out?

[SunSeeker]

66. K & R