Latest / The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson / DOJ Probes BLM: Where Did the Millions Go plus Comey "‘I Didn’t Lie! I Was Confused by Cruz’s Questions"

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DOJ Probes BLM: Where Did the Millions Go plus Comey "‘I Didn’t Lie! I Was Confused by Cruz’s Questions" · The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

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  Speaker 1: You know.
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  Speaker 2: The sad thing is I have my highest numbers that
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  Speaker 3: You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben ferguson.
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  Speaker 4: Good Friday morning.
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  Speaker 1: Nice to have you with us in the forty seven
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  Speaker 1: Morning Update, and we've got two very big.
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  Speaker 4: Stories for you.
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  Speaker 1: First up, accountability, The Justice Department is now investigating whether
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  Speaker 1: the leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement defrauded their
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  Speaker 1: own donors who contributed millions and millions of dollars. We'll
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  Speaker 1: have the latest on that and what it means for
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  Speaker 1: the investigation. Also, in a shocking filing in the courthouse,
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  Speaker 1: former FBI Director James Comy now it's demanding that the
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  Speaker 1: line to Congress indictment against him be tossed out line
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  Speaker 1: because apparently he's too dumb to understand questions that he
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  Speaker 1: was asked by Senator Ted Cruz. They literally said in
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  Speaker 1: the court filing that the questions were quote too long
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  Speaker 1: and just confusing, so therefore he couldn't have actually lied
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  Speaker 1: to Congress. I'll break that down for you as well,
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  Speaker 4: It's a forty seven morning Update and it starts right now.
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  Speaker 3: Story number one.
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  Speaker 1: Accountability is part of what Donald Trump ran on, and
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  Speaker 1: he promised that those that were abusing their power within
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  Speaker 1: the government, or those that were abusing their power outside
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  Speaker 1: of the government getting protections from the Biden administration, could
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  Speaker 1: be held accountable.
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  Speaker 4: We now know what some.
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  Speaker 1: Of that accountability is going to look like, and this
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  Speaker 1: time it involves Black Lives Matter. The Department of Justice,
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  Speaker 1: we're now being told, is probing Black Lives Matter for fraud.
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  Speaker 1: Sources are saying the Justice Department investigating whether the leaders
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  Speaker 1: in the Black Lives Matter movement defrauded donors who contributed
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  Speaker 1: tens of millions of dollars during the racial justice protests
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  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty that, according to multiple people familiar with
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  Speaker 1: the matter, In recent weeks, federal law enforcement officials have
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  Speaker 1: issued subpoenas and at least one search warrant as part
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  Speaker 1: of an investigation into the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc.
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  Speaker 1: And other black led organizations that helped spark a national
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  Speaker 1: reckoning on systemic racism. Said the people who were not
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  Speaker 1: authorized discuss an ongoing criminal pro by name and spoke
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  Speaker 1: on condition of amininity to the Associated Press. It was
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  Speaker 1: not clear if the investigation was a result in criminal charges,
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  Speaker 1: but its mere existence invites fresh scrutiny to a movement
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  Speaker 1: that in recent years has faced criticism about its public
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  Speaker 1: accounting of donations and what they've received. The recent burst
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  Speaker 1: of investigative activity is also unfolding at a time when
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  Speaker 1: civil rights groups have raised concerns about the potential for
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  Speaker 1: the Trump administration to target it a broad variety of
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  Speaker 1: progressive and left winning groups, they claim that have been
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  Speaker 1: critical of him, including those affiliated with Black Lives Matter,
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  Speaker 1: the transgender rights movement, and they claimed the anti ice protesters.
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  Speaker 1: A spokesperson for the Justice Department decline a comment on Thursday.
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  Speaker 1: One of the people said the investigation had been initiated
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  Speaker 1: during the Biden administration, but is getting renewed attention because
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  Speaker 1: of the Trump administration. A second person confirmed that the
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  Speaker 1: allegations were examined as well in the Biden administration. So
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  Speaker 1: what is this really all about? Massive amounts of money
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  Speaker 1: that came in, and the question is where did it
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  Speaker 1: all go. The foundation said it actually took in over
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  Speaker 1: ninety million dollars in donations. Following the twenty twenty murder
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  Speaker 1: of George Floyd, a black man whose last press under
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  Speaker 1: the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer, sparked protests
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  Speaker 1: across the US and around the world. Critics of the
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  Speaker 1: nonprofit foundation and of the Black Lives Matter movement broadly
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  Speaker 1: accused organizers of not only not being transparent about how
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  Speaker 1: it was spinning the donations, but that criticism grew even
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  Speaker 1: louder after the BOM Foundation leaders in twenty twenty two
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  Speaker 1: confirmed that they in fact used donations to purchase a
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  Speaker 1: not one, not two, not three, not four, not five,
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  Speaker 1: but a six million dollar Los Angeles property that includes
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  Speaker 1: a home with six bedrooms and bathrooms. Leaders previously denied
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  Speaker 1: wrongdoing and publicly released the tax documents. No prior investigations
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  Speaker 1: into the nonprofits finances had yielded proof of quote impropriety.
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  Speaker 1: Leaders of the Foundation of received subpoenas now and in
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  Speaker 1: statements email to the Associated Press on Thursday, the Foundation
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  Speaker 1: said it is not a target of any federal criminal
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  Speaker 1: invas investigation quote unquote, saying this, we remain committed to
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  Speaker 1: full transparency, accountability, and the responsible stewardship of resources dedicated
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  Speaker 1: to building a better future for black communities, the foundation
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  Speaker 1: said now.
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  Speaker 4: The Black Lives Matter movement first.
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  Speaker 1: Emerged in twenty thirteen after the acquittal of George Zimmerman,
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  Speaker 1: the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who killed a seventeen year old
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  Speaker 1: tray Von Martin in Florida, but it was in the
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  Speaker 1: twenty fourteen death of Michael Brown at the hands of
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  Speaker 1: police in Ferguson, Missouri, that made the slogan black Lives
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  Speaker 1: Matter a rallying cry for progressives. Now, the movement founders
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  Speaker 1: and organizers also pledged to build a decentralized organization governed
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  Speaker 1: by the consensus of BLM chapters. But as the movement's
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  Speaker 1: influence crew, so did the number of organizations that became
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  Speaker 1: affiliated with BLM. In twenty twenty, there was a tidal
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  Speaker 1: wave of public contributions in the aftermath and the protests
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  Speaker 1: over Floyd's murder, and they came mainly to the BLM Foundation,
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  Speaker 1: although other organizations and resources came in from funds as
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  Speaker 1: well leaders. However, the foundation opened up about finances an
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  Speaker 1: organizational structure in twenty twenty two, revealing detailed accounting of
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  Speaker 1: their expenditures. The latest Form nine to ninety filings show
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  Speaker 1: the BLM Foundation had twenty eight million in assets for
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  Speaker 1: the fiscal year ending June twenty twenty four. Now, the
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  Speaker 1: investigation we're also being told is being run out of
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  Speaker 1: the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California
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  Speaker 1: in LA. The top prosecutor there was in fact disqualified
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  Speaker 1: from several cases earlier this week after a federal judge
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  Speaker 1: concluded that the Trump appointee has stayed in the temporary
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  Speaker 1: job longer than allowed by law. It's not clear whether
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  Speaker 1: that judge and its disqualification will impact the BLM investigation.
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  Speaker 1: So what we know now is this, you have BLM,
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  Speaker 1: and it's been characterized by many in the media as
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  Speaker 1: a radical organization, and there's many that believe that the
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  Speaker 1: money coming in was not actually going to help black
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  Speaker 1: lives or the community at all, Which brings us back
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  Speaker 1: to the accountability aspect of all of this. President of
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  Speaker 1: United States America made it very clear that he was
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  Speaker 1: going to hold those accountable, especially those that were committing
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  Speaker 1: crimes or defrauding the public. Will have to wait and see,
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  Speaker 1: but this is certainly a major step forward when it
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  Speaker 1: comes to transparency.
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  Speaker 3: Now, story number two.
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  Speaker 1: You can file this next story under things you just
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  Speaker 1: can't make up. Ex FBI Director James Comy has just
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  Speaker 1: come out saying he wants the line to Congress indictment tossed.
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  Speaker 1: Why he's complaining now that Senator Ted Cruz's questions were
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  Speaker 1: too long and too confusing for the FBI director to follow.
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  Speaker 4: That's right.
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  Speaker 1: James Comy is now arguing that the criminal gase against
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  Speaker 1: him for allegedly lying to Congress.
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  Speaker 4: Should just go away because.
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  Speaker 1: Senator Cruz's question of him was just too confusing and
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  Speaker 1: too long, and the former FBI director's answer was quote
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  Speaker 1: unquote true regardless. Attorneys for James Comy and I repeat
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  Speaker 1: this is not a joke claim his congressional testimony that
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  Speaker 1: he didn't approve leaks to the media about his investigation
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  Speaker 1: of President Trump wasn't a lie, and that the comments
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  Speaker 1: were made after the Texas Republican senator allegedly rambled his
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  Speaker 1: question quote. The indictment conspicuously admits the lengthy, confusing questions
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  Speaker 1: that prompted mister Comy's testimony. The lawyers wrote and their
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  Speaker 1: documents filed Thursday in Alexander, Virginia Court, which quoted from
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  Speaker 1: a Senate Judiciary committee on September the thirtieth of twenty twenty.
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  Speaker 1: The lone star state politician asked Coomy to quote recall
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  Speaker 1: statements that he had made three years earlier, and just
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  Speaker 1: simultaneously addressed statements that Senator Cruz incorrectly claimed were made
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  Speaker 1: by Andrew McCabe, former Deputy Director of the FBI. This
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  Speaker 1: is again what their attorneys are saying, and the filing
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  Speaker 1: for former Director James Comy.
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  Speaker 4: Quote viewed in contact.
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  Speaker 1: Senator Cruz's questions cannot form the basis for the charges
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  Speaker 1: against Comy because they were fundamentally ambiguous and regardless mister
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  Speaker 1: Comy's answers to them were literally true, the attorneys added
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  Speaker 1: in their twenty three page filing.
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  Speaker 4: The false statements.
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  Speaker 1: They also said charges that rests on a particular interpretation
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  Speaker 1: of a fundamentally ambiguous question must be dismissed. The indictment
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  Speaker 1: brought by the interim US Attorney Lindsay Halligan, charged the
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  Speaker 1: former FBI boss with one count of making a false
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  Speaker 1: statement to Congress and one count of instructing a congressional proceeding.
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  Speaker 4: Now.
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  Speaker 1: If convicted, James Comy could serve a maximum sentence of
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  Speaker 1: five years in federal prison. Comy has pleaded not guilty
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  Speaker 1: and claimed the case was brought against him for political
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  Speaker 1: reasons at President Trump's pest in retaliation for Comy's probe
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  Speaker 1: into alleged collusion between Trump's twenty sixteen presidential campaign and
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  Speaker 1: Russian officials. By the way, James Coby knew the FBI
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  Speaker 1: had taken that still dossier and classified it as user generated,
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  Speaker 1: meaning he knew that it was all made up from
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  Speaker 1: the very beginning. Now back to Cruz, at the time
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  Speaker 1: of the hearing, was seeking to point out discrepancies and
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  Speaker 1: statements made by both James Comy and Andrew McCabe in
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  Speaker 1: separate congressional and federal inquiries. McCabe had told the Justice
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  Speaker 1: Department Inspector General's Office that his boss at the Bureau
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  Speaker 1: said it was quote good he was passing certain information
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  Speaker 1: along to the Wall Street Journal. That information presented in
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  Speaker 1: October thirtieth, sixteen. Article contained details about a pending investigation
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  Speaker 1: of the Clinton Foundation, and the FBI director and deputy
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  Speaker 1: director discussed the disclosures the day after. According to the
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  Speaker 1: DOJ and OIG report released in February of eighteen, Cruise's
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  Speaker 1: meandering line of questioning was also less direct than the
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  Speaker 1: inquiry he referenced may by Senator Chuck Grassley. The attorneys
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  Speaker 1: for the former disgrace FBI director state three years prior
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  Speaker 1: on the subject of the FBI leagues, prompting Comy's defense
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  Speaker 1: team to argue for total dismissal of the first count
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  Speaker 1: against him. Saying this, Director Comy, have you ever been
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  Speaker 1: an anonymous source in news reports about matters relating to
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  Speaker 1: the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation? Grassley asked in
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  Speaker 1: May of twenty seventeen. Never, Comy replied question two, Have
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  Speaker 1: you ever authorized someone else at the FBI to be
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  Speaker 1: an anonymous source in news reports about the Trump investigation
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  Speaker 1: of the Clinton investigation? James Coby answered that question by
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  Speaker 1: saying no. In twenty twenty, he affirmed, I stand by
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  Speaker 1: what the testimony you summarized that I gave in May
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  Speaker 1: of twenty seventeen. Federal prosecutors now allege in their indictment
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  Speaker 1: that the statement was false because, as James Comy then
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  Speaker 1: and they're new, he in fact had authorized Person three
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  Speaker 1: to serve as an anonymous source in news reporting regarding
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  Speaker 1: the FBI investigation concerning Person number one. Thursday's motion to
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  Speaker 1: dismiss noted that Halligan's team had since identified Person one
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  Speaker 1: as ellery Clinton in Person three is Daniel Richmond, a
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  Speaker 1: Columbia law school professor and former prosecutor. Nott McKay Senator
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  Speaker 1: Cruz questions are fundamentally ambiguous, the lawyers went on to say,
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  Speaker 1: because people of ordinary intellect would not be expected to
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  Speaker 1: understand that he means to ask a broad question about
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  Speaker 1: mister Comey's interactions with anyone at the FBI, including Daniel Richmond. So,
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  Speaker 1: just so we're all on the same page, what the
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  Speaker 1: lawyers for James Coby are now saying is James Comy,
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  Speaker 1: the FBI Director, is too dumb to understand basic questions
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  Speaker 1: coming from Senator Cruz. So therefore he didn't break the
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  Speaker 1: law lie to Congress when he claimed he had never
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  Speaker 1: had leaked information go to the press or told anyone
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  Speaker 1: to leak to the press. This, my friends, is gonna
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  Speaker 1: be very interesting moving forward, because I have a feeling
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  Speaker 1: there's a lot in the courtroom that aren't gonna believe
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  Speaker 1: kmy on this one either.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update
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  Speaker 3: with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever
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  Speaker 3: you're listening to this podcast right now and for more
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  Speaker 3: in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast
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  Speaker 3: and we will see you back here tomorrow.