Screenshot of video of man killed by police.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Federal investigators are taking over the probe of the shooting death of a Baton Rouge man.

City and state officials said they support the decision because it will provide more transparency, People.com reports. 

Sterling was shot by police as he appeared to be pinned down by officers.

The FBI and Justice Department are investigating.

“An altercation between Sterling and the officers ensued,” according to an earlier statement from Baton Rouge police. “Sterling was shot during the altercation and died at the scene.”

A 48-second video taken by a witness has circulated online, igniting anger over another black man killed by police.

Loretta Lynch

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

Well, it’s all over but the political fallout.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced Wednesday that she’ll follow the recommendation of the FBI and pass on charging presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton in the email scandal.

“Late this afternoon, I met with FBI Director James Comey and career prosecutors and agents who conducted the investigation of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email system during her time as Secretary of State,” Lynch said in a statement. “I received and accepted their unanimous recommendation that the thorough, year-long investigation be closed and that no charges be brought against any individuals within the scope of the investigation.”

Comey had said the investigation raised concerns about the way Clinton handled sensitive materials, but essentially indicated that the case could not have been prosecuted successfully.

Republicans, including presidential hopeful Donald Trump, reacted angrily, saying charges should have been filed.

Some current and retired FBI agents also expressed concern.

“A sad day for the FBI,” one retired FBI official said in a posting on Facebook the day Comey announced the findings.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Republicans are lashing out at the FBI for not recommending charges against Hillary Clinton for using a private email server when she was secretary of state.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wi., said the FBI’s recommendation “defies explanation,” adding that “declining to prosecute Secretary Clinton for recklessly mishandling and transmitting national security information will set a terrible precedent,” Fortune reports. 

Ryan pledged to hold House hearings on the FBI investigation and said Clinton should not be allowed to access classified information.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas expressed “serious concerns about the integrity of Director Comey’s decision,” arguing that Comey “has rewritten a clearly worded federal criminal statute.”

Hillary Clinton

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Hillary Clinton likely dodged prosecution, but details of the investigation reveal the Democratic presidential candidate often lied about her email practices.

Clinton, for example, claimed she turned over all of her work-related messages, but that is not true. She also said she never used her private email server to send classified information. Again, not true.

Clinton also claimed she set up her private email system so she wouldn’t have to use other devices. According to the FBI, Clinton used many devices to send and receive emails.

FBI Director James Comey announced Tuesday that he does not plan to recommend criminal charges against Clinton.

Now Clinton must show voters that she can be trusted.

FBI Director James Comey

By Editorial Board
Chicago Tribune

Here’s the campaign bumper sticker you won’t see: “Clinton in ’16 — Because No Charges Were Recommended.”

FBI Director James Comey announced Tuesday that, having completed its investigation, his agency will not recommend to the U.S. Department of Justice that Hillary Clinton face criminal prosecution for mishandling sensitive emails when she was secretary of state. No reasonable prosecutor would take up this case, Comey said.

That decision is an enormous relief to Clinton, and an artful escape. The presumptive Democratic nominee for president no longer has to worry about the presumptive part. It looks like she’ll get the nod at the National Democratic Convention. If the FBI had concluded that Clinton likely broke the law, the bumper sticker of the day would have nixed her name and instead featured Joe Biden’s.

Let’s leave the cheerleading to her campaign staffers, though. This is a political disaster for Clinton. Relying exclusively on a private email server to do the public’s work as America’s top diplomat was foolish and reckless. Comey, in a surprise televised statement, rendered a two-word judgment that may never be forgotten: “extremely careless.” As that behavior applies to classified government information, it’s not what many people are looking for in a president.

Specifically, Comey said: “Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.”

He continued: “There is evidence to support a conclusion that any reasonable person in Secretary Clinton’s position, or in the position of those government employees with whom she was corresponding about these matters, should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation.”

Parsing that statement, the phrase that sticks out is “any reasonable person,” as in: You’d think the barest qualification for being secretary of state — or becoming president — is the ability to use reasonable judgment. Clinton, the FBI director asserted, failed that test. It’s not going too far to say that what she did could be a firing offense, if she were still on the job. Getting the ax would be the likely fate of any high federal official who showed a willful lack of respect for handling U.S. secrets. But set aside government protocols and politics. Imagine the phrase “extremely careless” stamped on your own performance evaluation by the boss. What might the consequences be?

To read more click here. 

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A Louisiana lawmaker is calling on the Justice Department to investigate Baton Rouge Police after at least one officer shot a 37-year-old man to death while he was on the ground.

A video of the shooting provoked protests in Louisiana Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond wants federal investigators to solves some of the “unanswered questions” in the case.

“There are a number of unanswered questions surrounding Mr. Sterling’s death, including questions about the initial calls for police presence, the level of force used by officers, the verbal and physical altercation, and the response of the officers after he was shot,” Richmond said Wednesday in a statement, KXLF.com reports. http://www.kxlf.com/story/32381137/louisiana-lawmaker-calls-on-justice-department-to-investigate-police-shooting-death

Local police are reviewing the video.

The officers are on administrative leave pending an investigation.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The TSA is researching ways to speed up airport lines and improve security.

CBS News reports the TSA is testing computer-tomography – or CT – scanners at a checkpoint in the Phoenix airpot.

The technology would be used to inspect carry-on bags. TSA uses CT scanners for checked baggage.

The scanners generate 3-D images, which are analyzed by computers.

With the technology, screeners would not need to examine X-ray images of every bag.

Other Stories of Interest

• FBI Background Checks for Gun Purchases Surge
• FBI Is Conducting 30 Undisclosed Insider Trading Probes
• Border Patrol Agents Rescue Immigrants Abandoned in Heat
• Sanders Receives $1.1M in Secret Service Protection Since Clinton’s Victory
• Homeland Security Chief Touts Improved Airport Wait Times

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

FBI Director James Comey announced Tuesday that he won’t recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton in the State Department email probe.

The final decision is up to the Justice Department. But under the circumstances it would be highly unusual for the Justice Department to move forward with charges.

Comey said there was  evidence of potential violations of the law,  but “our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case. ”

“In looking back at our investigations into the mishandling or removal of classified information, we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts,” he said.

Below is the full text of Comey’s remarks:

Good morning. I’m here to give you an update on the FBI’s investigation of Secretary Clinton’s use of a personal e-mail system during her time as Secretary of State.

After a tremendous amount of work over the last year, the FBI is completing its investigation and referring the case to the Department of Justice for a prosecutive decision. What I would like to do today is tell you three things: what we did; what we found; and what we are recommending to the Department of Justice.

This will be an unusual statement in at least a couple ways. First, I am going to include more detail about our process than I ordinarily would, because I think the American people deserve those details in a case of intense public interest. Second, I have not coordinated or reviewed this statement in any way with the Department of Justice or any other part of the government. They do not know what I am about to say.

I want to start by thanking the FBI employees who did remarkable work in this case. Once you have a better sense of how much we have done, you will understand why I am so grateful and proud of their efforts.

So, first, what we have done:

The investigation began as a referral from the Intelligence Community Inspector General in connection with Secretary Clinton’s use of a personal e-mail server during her time as Secretary of State. The referral focused on whether classified information was transmitted on that personal system.

Our investigation looked at whether there is evidence classified information was improperly stored or transmitted on that personal system, in violation of a federal statute making it a felony to mishandle classified information either intentionally or in a grossly negligent way, or a second statute making it a misdemeanor to knowingly remove classified information from appropriate systems or storage facilities.

Consistent with our counterintelligence responsibilities, we have also investigated to determine whether there is evidence of computer intrusion in connection with the personal e-mail server by any foreign power, or other hostile actors.