UPDATE!! UPDATE!!

 

I MADE A MISTAKE!!!

I am always willing to admit when I have made a mistake, and I try and correct them right away. I was wrong!! The Judge in the Bolton case has NOT YET RULED on the Government’s Motion for Dismissal. I should have checked and I didn’t. But boy if he does rule in the Government’s favor…what a can of worms that would open up including Patriot Act Issues.

 

Another thing I need to point out for all of my new followers including those on the East Coast is that my writing style is a bit different than most Investigative Reporters so you can’t give my stuff a quick read, there are times I may emphasize a point by mocking a point. In Bolton’s case she did NOT release TOP SECRET STUFF, or NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION!! She was accused of sharing PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION (PII), which is completely different than the Clinton case, and demonstrates the irony I’m trying to point out. We write and think differently out West!!!

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The release of the OIG Report regarding Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton and other Secretaries of State requires me to speed ahead sooner than anticipated with Part Two of this series.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/may/25/hillary-clinton-faulted-on-emails-by-state-departm/

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/26/us/politics/state-department-hillary-clinton-emails.html?_r=0

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/25/politics/state-department-report-faults-clinton-over-email-use/

You can read the OIG Investigation Report on Hillary Clinton and the other Secretary of States at the link below:

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/44f1e34f-acd4-4656-b7ff-5c1633bbc241

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CONCLUSION

Longstanding, systemic weaknesses related to electronic records and communications have existed within the Office of the Secretary that go well beyond the tenure of any one Secretary of State. OIG recognizes that technology and Department policy have evolved considerably since Secretary Albright’s tenure began in 1997. Nevertheless, the Department generally and the Office of the Secretary in particular have been slow to recognize and to manage effectively the legal requirements and cybersecurity risks associated with electronic data communications, particularly as those risks pertain to its most senior leadership. OIG expects that its recommendations will move the Department steps closer to meaningfully addressing these risks.

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After reading the various media reports and reviewing the OIG Report regarding Clinton and others, along with knowing there is an FBI investigation into the issue I couldn’t help but wonder if the FBI does find probable cause to believe Hillary Clinton committed a crime and do submit a case to United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch for prosecution if AG Lynch will use the same reasoning she did in her failed effort to get the Bolton case dismissed right here in little ole Spokane. The reasoning Lynch used in the Bolton case is that the “Executive Branch” has “broad discretion” when it comes to access Secret Stuff and the Judicial Branch has no business sticking their nose in when it comes to National Security Information; “-under Title VII or otherwise- “. That theory didn’t fly with the Judge in the Bolton case, and I have a hard time believing it would fly in the Clinton case, should there be one, with both the Judiciary or most of the public.

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At his point the only documentation I have for the OIG Investigation of Ms. Bolton is the Investigative Summary linked below.

 

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/b2892a2e-ba5e-4a8e-b4b9-3a44cff49522

 

If this case isn’t settled and the full discovery process is actually completed I should have the full OIG Investigation of Bolton once that process is complete. It appears the investigation of Bolton took well over two years to complete. As you can see from the Bolton Investigative Summary the OIG found the following:

“Findings of Misconduct by an AUSA for Improperly Receiving, Viewing, Copying, and Sharing Personally Identifiable Information of Coworkers, and Lacking Candor with Supervisors “

So basically according to all the documents available Bolton received, viewed, copied, and shared information copied on a computer disc that contained the names, addresses, social security numbers, and salaries of her coworkers, and that she lacked candor with her supervisors.

“The investigation determined that the AUSA had previously received from EOUSA, as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request, salary and bonus information for USAO attorneys, with the attorneys’ names excluded.”

 

I’m going to put the “Lack of Candor” finding on hold at this point but if you read the litigation documents and compare the “Lack of Candor” issue between Clinton and Bolton IMO it really makes one wonder.

Keep in mind that an Independent Federal Prosecutor reviewed the Bolton case and found the charges made by Ormsby against Bolton were not warranted so we are left, at this point, with what the OIG came up with in the Summary. The OIG says Bolton was a bad girl because after she received Freedom of Information Act records regarding the disparity between the salaries in the local office of the US Attorney, which is PUBLIC information and took her well over THREE YEARS to receive. Those records did not identify who was making how much money or their gender so somehow, which is unclear at this point, but the government alleges there was some kind of a conspiracy between Bolton and the IT Guy Michael Eddy to get information that would demonstrate the gender salary disparity.

Why in the hell it would take over THREE YEARS to come up with salary information in a small office like the Spokane Office of the US Attorney is a big question, even though federal FOIA requests can take one or two years for response three years to me means someone really didn’t want Bolton to know.

 

The problem for Bolton is that IT Guy Eddy copied records from a government computer…not super-secret stuff as in the case of Clinton…but salary information of and personal identifiers of US Attorneys all over the US.

I’m going to offer two pieces of advice here for all of my readers which is based upon many, many years of experience with IT Folks.

1) Conspiracy aside, ALWAYS, and I MEAN ALWAYS, be very specific with ANY request you make to any IT person male or female or you are going to get so much crap you can’t use it will bog you down.

2) Learn and understand that IT Folks by their very nature think differently than most folks when it comes to data and what is important so you have to lead them and not follow them.

 

So the question I have is what happened to co-conspirator Michael Eddy? Was he charged with a crime, or disciplined in any way? The only thing I have been able to determine at this point is that Eddy may still be in Government Employ and may have been transferred to Hanford. I don’t know if he maintained his Top Secret Clearance but if in fact he did I hope someone is watching to make sure he doesn’t pass on information to the Russians or the Chinese, especially if he is in fact at Hanford. Now if he runs across data being hidden from the public regarding dangerous leakage…please have at it again Mr. Eddy and be a “Whistleblower” again.

 

What is really funny, at least to me, is that at the time Bolton received the Top-Secret salary information, she had a TS Clearance, because she on a daily basis dealt with not only records containing personal history information, but also personal financial information (IRS, Banks, Social Security etc.), and occasionally National Security Information. Yet she couldn’t be trusted with salary information.

 

I suppose the Government’s position would be that she couldn’t be trusted because she passed Top-Secret information to these people.

 

Well…the fact is most of the people on the above list do have, or did have at the time TS Clearances, and because the current record does not include full discovery including the two year OIG Investigation we don’t know if Bolton actually passed on Top-Secret Stuff like AUSA addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, etc….to anyone. Also of note is that Stephanie Van Marter is on the list. She is another AUSA in the local office that filed a complaint similar to Bolton’s with EEOC. That complaint was settled. If this goes to court perhaps we will all be able to read it like we have Bolton’s.

I haven’t read the FOIA that Bolton submitted to obtain salary information for the local office of the USAG, but in reading the litigation file I had to laugh at this:

 

As you can see Bolton was beefed by Ormsby back in 2011 when he first took office and found out that she had submitted a FOIA regarding salaries in the office. Keep in mind that the timeline demonstrates that she believed the “good ole boy network” was a fixture during Jim McDevitt’s Republican Appointed time in office so the case transcends party lines. Bolton may not have been aware of exactly how close McDevitt and Ormsby actually are despite the different party affiliations.

It sure looks to me like this “Admonishment” by Ormsby, which was not placed in Bolton’s personnel file and only surfaced in the defense of Bolton’s lawsuit had an agenda attached. I read Ormsby “Admonishment” letter the same way I have read a lot of similar letters; “Okay girl…you want to play…we will play!”. But you can decide for yourself. Here is where Bolton’s simple FOIA request ended up, and why it is being litigated.

Ormsby Charges Against Bolton:

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/ca5656f9-a1e4-43b1-a2e3-1aef72105685

Bolton Suspension From NSI Access

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/4d6ca0ba-1e29-4119-ac9f-5d4b9c0311b4

 

Obviously Bolton was in a pickle as early as 2010, so what does one do when you are in the type of pickle she was in? Well the answer is you get more women involved! So at some point Bolton reaches out to three other women for help, and since all of those women have publically expressed their crusade for equality for women one would think they would be lining up to help out…right? Nah…not right… this a political thing for crying out loud. Bolton may have been better off seeking help from the women on the Spokane City Council.

Bolton covers the political bases by reaching out to the women who represent her at the Federal Level, Republican Cathy McMorris-Rogers, Maria Cantwell, and of course Patty Murray. Apparently her case is too much of a hot potato for all three and she gets no help at all. Perhaps Bolton wasn’t aware that Patty Murray was the one that nominated Ormsby and if gender inequality became an issue, as well as some of the dastardly conduct that has been alleged on the part of some folks in Ormsby’s office were to surface… see might not look too great.

 

After reading this on Patty Murray’s website I reached out to her for comment on my stories.

Senator Murray,

I am an Investigative Reporter located in Spokane. I do stories on local Criminal Justice Issues and as a result of my investigative reporting I have learned that you received contact from Ms. Jill Bolton, whom I am sure you know, is suing the US Government over an allegation of Gender Inequality, an issue you have great interest in. Since Michael Ormsby is the individual you nominated for our local US Attorney here in Spokane, and you received a request for help from Ms. Bolton prior to her being accused by USA Ormsby of several felonies I would really appreciate getting your comments on the situation, and learn about your interaction with USA Ormsby after Ms. Bolton reached out to you for help. I am doing a series of stories on this case and would very much like to have your comments regarding the issue as soon as possible.

 

https://examplepro.me/2016/05/24/local-case-national-implicationsor-not-part-one/

 

 

Respectfully,

Brian R Breen

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I have reached out to several people involved in this case besides Patty Murray but have not yet received a response, when and if I get any response I will of course report them, but don’t hold your breath.

I have reached out to Bolton’s lawyer Mary Schultz who has rightfully taken the typical lawyer position in the interest of her client and will not respond to some of my requests, basically telling me that she doesn’t want to play her hand yet, which is understandable.

 

Lots more to come…I hope!!!

 

I REPORT YOU DECIDE!!!!