I didn't realize America was so corrupt..

[Jesus Malverde]

A board member from the worlds largest money launderer HSBC becomes the head of the FBI?

How could one reconcile that a member of a business that worked with the murderous sinaloa cartel could then credibly lead the FBI?



Former Deputy AG Jim Comey Joins HSBC Board, to Help Right the Ship

Who is new FBI director James Comey?

The swamp needs to be drained.

[Scootaloo]

1. Nor did I; sadly, I'm still not surprised

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. It will not start, the swamp draining that is,

until most Americans realize the corruption is that deep.

[woo me with science]

3. Good god. Every frigging day, more stench.

Every. Single. Day.

[okaawhatever]

4. I can't believe the absolute bullshit in that "story". Please stop putting garbage like this on the

site. We're Democrats. Information is important to us. Facts even more so. Comey isn't a tool for the MIC as that garbage reporter at Guardian claims.

For those unfamiliar with Comey's history, a look into it will make you feel better about some of the folks in this government.

1. He's the guy who put an end to the spying Bush was doing. It's a pretty cool story, but basically when Ashcroft went into the hospital Comey was made acting Attorney General. He was asked to sign the authorization to renew the spying Bush/Cheney were doing. (which was routine). When he saw what they were doing he freaked out. He refused to sign it and demanded a sit down with the Prez. Knowing the individual was headed to the hospital to get Ashcroft to sign it, Comey rushed over there to stop it and standing over Ashcroft's bed got Ashcroft to not sign it. He met with the President and said before he would sign it, they would have to bring the spying into compliance with the Constitution. Bush did, and that was the beginning of the end of Comey's career with the Republicans.

2. He prosecuted Republican legislators for corruption.

3. He helped put the mafia away, including John Gotti

4. He testified before the Congressional committee on the firing of Prosecutors under Gonzalez and testified under oath that he thought the prosecutors were being persecuted for political reasons.

5. Although he's a republican, he did sign an amicus brief to support gay marriage.


Comey is one of the few honest guys in government it seems. That would also explain why he'sbeen persona non grata in Repubican circles since all of that happened.

[questionseverything]

6. the aclu sees it differently

The new opinion—addressed to "Deputy Attorney General James Comey"—was signed on December 30, 2004. The key sentence in the opinion is tucked away in footnote 8. It concludes that the new Comey memo does not change the authorizations of interrogation tactics in any earlier memos. In short, the Comey memo gave a thumbs-up on waterboarding. Read the footnote for yourself:

While we have identified various disagreements with the August 2002 Memorandum, we have reviewed this Office's prior opinions addressing issues involving treatment of detainees and do not believe that any of their conclusions would be different under the standards set forth in this memorandum.

Even with this new memo, the Bush White House and CIA were still worried about whether they could get away with torture. They ordered up additional legal memos in the spring of 2005. The first memo essentially is a rewrite of Bybee II, with basically a how-to guide on how to simulate drowning, induce hypothermia, slam a person into a wall, and otherwise commit torture and abuse and get away with it. The second memo approved the use of these tactics in combination.

Comey gave a second thumbs-up to waterboarding in signing off on the May 2005 rewrite of Bybee II. He reportedly wrote an email to a colleague at the time, in which he said he "concurred" with the new torture memo. At the same time, he strenuously opposed the approval of the second memo combining torture tactics. Waterboarding was okay, as long as it was done the "right" way.

https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-human-rights/james-comey-two-thumbs-waterboarding

[okaawhatever]

8. What does this have to do with anything/ First, Comey is speaking from a legal stand point as to

whether it is illegal for the US to use these means overseas. Not the same as endorsing it. Many legal scholars believe that waterboarding wouldn't be illegal or considered torture if it weren't done for a prolonged period of time, and especially if the threat is imminent.
Also, the ACLU isn't the deciding voice in the debate.

Also, the Guardian article didn't address Comey and waterboarding. They were doing a hit piece trying to make it seem like he had taken a seat on the board of HSBC and that he was a shill for the MIC. He actually took a non-executive subcommittee for the board, a committee created to ensure HSBC followed the laws after they had pled guilty to drug laundering charges. He was there as a "police observer" basically to assure stockholders HSBC would comply and not tank their investment. the Guardian's hit piece is a disgusting piece of hyperbole and posting it so many months later isn't any better.

[Jesus Malverde]

9. We're talking about the worlds largest money launderers

HSBC Bankers and board members needed to be in jail on kingpin life sentences and not get a civil fine without admitting guilt. That the head of the FBI was working with these bankers to murderers should make every honest American throw up.

Defending this incredible conflict of interest is beyond absurd.

Jail the money launderers. We hear with great fanfare how they bust and jail some guy for selling bitcoins on the silk road.

The stench of selective enforcement of the laws is overwhelming.

[okaawhatever]

13. Okay, so Comey was the lead prosecutor on some of our biggest white collar trials including:

WorldCom, Adelphia, ImClone, and CreditSuisse First Boston. Most of those people went to jail (if not all). I know Ken Lay got 15 years over Enron. BUT because bankers didn't go to jail while he was in the private sector and working as a Law professor at Columbia he's a bad guy? The guy who led the biggest, most effective white collar criminal prosecution in history is a dirt bag because bankers didn't go to jail when he wasn't in a position to put them there? Is that your opinion?

Here's an excerpt from an article announcing the Enron arrests:

Legal experts said the government has at last reached the pinnacle of its recent crackdown on corporate crime.

"Ken Lay was the big fish," said Orin Snyder, a former federal prosecutor. "This will be the showcase trial for the government in its war on fraud in the corporate boardroom."

The Houston-based company's collapse was the first of several high-profile scandals at some of the country's top corporations, among them WorldCom, Global Crossing, Adelphia Communications and Tyco International.

The case against Lay, however, "is the one everyone will look at -- more than Tyco and more than Martha Stewart," said Snyder, now a partner in Manatt, Phelps and Phillips. "This is even bigger than Adelphia.

At a press conference Thursday afternoon, James Comey, the No. 2 official at the Justice Department, called the investigation by the Enron Task Force, which marks its second anniversary Friday, "one of the most challenging and complicated matters that we have dealt with." The clear message, he said, to corporate America is that "no one is above the law and that no scheme of fraud is too complex" for government watchdogs to pursue.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/07/08/news/newsmakers/lay/

Comey and the task force also took down Arthur Anderson, one of the big 5 accounting firms, for their part in the Enron scandal. Oh, and Isaid earlier he prosecuted Gotti, but it was the Gambino crime family he successfully prosecuted.

[Jesus Malverde]

7. What part is bullshit...

That HSBC laundered billions of dollars for the murderous Sinaloa cartel?

That he joined the board of the money laundering bank and took a paycheck (144,000 + 44,000)from the same people who serviced the Sinaloa cartel?

That he then went on to head the FBI?

Which one of these assertions is bullshit?

I didn't claim that el Chapo has him on speed dial, however in light of the facts I would not be surprised.

Thank You

[questionseverything]

10. dea worked with sinaloa too

An investigation by El Universal found that between the years 2000 and 2012, the U.S. government had an arrangement with Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel that allowed the organization to smuggle billions of dollars of drugs while Sinaloa provided information on rival cartels.
Sinaloa, led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, supplies 80% of the drugs entering the Chicago area and has a presence in cities across the U.S.

There have long been allegations that Guzman, considered to be "the world’s most powerful drug trafficker," coordinates with American authorities.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-government-and-the-sinaloa-cartel-2014-1#ixzz2rkUENTBj

//////////////////////////////////

so I guess it makes sense that the fbi would be there for the laundry part?

[okaawhatever]

12. Here's a more accurate statement: Comey was placed on a committee to oversee the board of HSBC

to ensure compliance. He is part of a six person committee and his position is both non-executive and non-voting.

HSBC Tackles Money Laundering Scandal With Former US Deputy Attorney General Hire


HSBC has snapped up a former US Deputy Attorney General to strengthen its efforts to combat financial crime and bolster risk management after the group was rocked by a record fine related to money laundering for Mexican drug cartels last year.

Europe's largest bank announced James Brien Comey Jr. will join its newly-formed Financial System Vulnerabilities Committee as a non-executive director and independent board member for a three year term that begins in March, HSBC said a statement emailed to IBTimes UK.

Comey served as the US Deputy Attorney General from 2003 until 2005 and was responsible for supervising the operations of the Department of Justice (DoJ) and chaired the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force. Prior to that he was the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and supervised the prosecution of executives on fraud and securities related charges, as well as creating a specialised unit to prosecute international drug cartels.

The committee, which will include five new members alongside Comey, will provide policy guidance, oversight and governance on business and financial market issues that may expose the bank to financial crime or system abuse, the bank said.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/hsbc-james-brien-comey-jr-money-laundering-429453

[MrScorpio]

5. Practically every single institution in this country is corrupt in some way

That's the way of the world, my friend.

[frwrfpos]

11. recommend

[questionseverything]

14. more on comey

Remember Jose Padilla? The guy -- allegedly -- wanted to contaminate a city with a "dirty bomb" made up from some kind of irradiated or nuclear medical waste. Unfortunately, we may never know the details of his plan, let alone the truth, as the United States government proceeded to torture the guy so bad that his mind is fried. And Padilla only thought* about doing something with a dirty nuke.

Nothing to debate when one's brain's been reduced to oatmeal.

How U.S. Interrogators Destroyed the Mind of Jose Padilla

* And there's questions about where he got that idea. Cough. FBI.

"We now know much of what Jose Padilla knows, and what we have learned confirms that the President made the right call and that that call saved lives." -- James Comey, then-Deputy Attorney General now head of...the FBI; press conference