Michael Tabman, retired special agent in charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis division.

By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com

Michael Tabman, the former special agent in charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis division, is running for governor in Kansas.

The agent-turned-security consultant is among more than 20 candidates vying for the governor’s seat.

Since retiring from the bureau in 2007 after 24 years of service, Tabman has lived in Johnson County in Kansas with his wife and children and wants to give back.

“As Governor, I want to restore all that makes Kansas such a wonderful place to live,” the New York native said on his campaign website.

Tabman said his priorities are improving and protecting schools, reducing health care costs and protecting civil liberties.

No stranger to violence, Tabman advocates more stringent regulations on “weapons of mass murder” but still supports the right to own a firearm.

In 2005, Tabman was the special agent in charge of the mass shooting at a Native American reservation in Minneapolis known as the “Red Lake Massacre.”

After Tabman retired, he sued the FBI, claiming the bureau smeared his character and denied him promotions because of false allegations that he mishandled a complaint against Special Agent Harry Samit. 

A judge dismissed the suit.

Martin Luther King Jr.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Today is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. 

When Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for nonviolent resistance in October 1964, the FBI was furious. 

Under the leadership of the bureau’s notorious director, J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI had spent nearly a decade keeping the civil rights leader under surveillance, convinced he was a Communist – or at least a national security threat. Agents recorded thousands of memos on the minister’s movements and interactions and even bugged his home, office and hotel rooms.

But they found nothing illegal or even dangerous.

Former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover

Infamously obstinate and relentless, Hoover was determined to discredit the 35-year-old leader, especially after he won the Nobel Peace Prize and earned international acclaim.

While King prepared for his trip to Oslo to receive the award, Hoover denounced the Georgia-born minister as “the most notorious liar in the country” during a press conference in Washington D.C. in November 1964.

A few days later, the smear campaign escalated, marking one of the darkest chapter’s in the FBI’s history. One of Hoover’s deputies, William Sullivan, typed an anonymous, harshly worded letter to King that later would come to be known as the “suicide letter.”

Since Sullivan had nothing illegal on King, the letter focused on his extramarital sexual liaisons, which were captured on FBI surveillance. 

The anonymous author calls King a “filthy, abnormal animal”and an “evil, abnormal beast” and pledges to expose the extramarital affairs “with your filthy, dirty, evil companions.”

The letter suggests there are recordings of “all your dirt, filth, evil and moronic talk.”

“You are done,” the letter declares. “Your ‘honorary degrees,’ your Nobel Prize (what a grim farce) and other awards will not save you. King, I repeat you are done.”

The letter is crafted to give the impression it was written by someone within the civil rights movement, making a reference to “us Negroes.”

King quietly told friends that someone wanted him to kill himself.

The letter proceeds in what is an apparent reference to suicide, “King, there is only one thing left for you to do. You know what it is. … There is but only one way out for you. You better take it before your filthy, abnormal fraudulent self is bared to the nation.”

King wasn’t fooled by the misdirected writing. He was certain the FBI had written it, the New York Times reported. 

King’s suspicious were confirmed by the Senate’s Church Committee in 1975.

“Rather than trying to discredit the alleged Communists it believed were attempting to influence Dr. King, the Bureau adopted a curious tactic of trying to discredit the supposed target of Communist Party interest — Dr. King himself,” the committee concluded in a report.

King was killed by a sniper in 1968.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller, via FBI.

By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com

Special counsel Robert Mueller assured President Trump’s attorneys last month that he was not the target of the ongoing, 11-month probe involving Russia but he indicated prosecutors continued to investigate him.

Mueller also told Trump’s attorneys that the president needed to be interviewed to determine whether he broke the law, The Washington Post first reported. Trump’s legal tea has resisted interviews so far, though the president has said he “looks forward” to sitting down with Mueller under oath. 

The Post also revealed that Mueller is preparing a report on whether Trump is suspected of colluding with Russia to meddle in the election or if he obstructed justice.

Trump continues to insist he is the victim of a “witch hunt” led by rogue leaders in the FBI and Justice Department.

Some legal and political observers say Mueller may be trying to lure Trump into an interview by raising his hopes that he won’t be charged.

Alex van der Zwaan, via YouTube

By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com

The Dutch son-in-law of a prominent Russian billionaire became the first person Tuesday to be sentenced as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s 11-month, evolving investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Alex van der Zwaan, a London-based lawyer, was sentenced to 30 days in prison and fined $20,000 for lying to federal investigators.

The 33-year-old worked closely with Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former deputy chairman Rick Gates, both of whom have been indicted with money laundering, conspiracy and tax fraud.

Van der Zwaan, who is married to the daughter of Russian oligarch German Khan, admitted he lied to FBI agents about communications he had with Manafort’s business partner, Gates, and a person described was “Person A,” who is believed to be a former employee of Manafort’s consulting firm in Ukraine, Konstantin Kilimnik.

Van der Zwaan, who asked for no jail time, apologized in court.

Mueller, who was appointed by Trump’s Justice Department in May, has brought indictments against 19 people and three Russian companies.

Gates has pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with Mueller’s team. Manafort continues to his innocence and could face trial as early as September.