Feds wildly disagree on number of agencies, range is 60-430

How big is the federal government? So big, it has lost count of just how many department and agencies it has, according to a federal watchdog group.

Quoting federal officials, the Competitive Enterprise Institute said the number given ranges from a mere 60 to a whopping 430.

In face, Clyde Wayne Crews, vice president of policy for CEI, found this gem of a quote inside the Administrative Conference of the United States source book. It lists 115 agencies in the appendix but adds:

"[T]here is no authoritative list of government agencies."

Don't laugh. Yet.

Digging through other counts offered by federal officials, he found an online Federal Register Index of 257.

United States Government Manual lists 316.

Then there was a 2015 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing during which a senator listed over 430 departments, agencies and sub-agencies.

"As bureaucracy sprawls, nobody can say with complete authority exactly how many federal agencies exist," blogged Crews on the CEI site.

Via: Washington Examiner

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Grassley: Clinton's Attorney Doesn't Have Proper Security Clearance to Handle Her Top Secret Emails

By now you know former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had not one, not two, buthundreds of emails containing classified information passing through her unsecure, personal email server. Since the revelations of Clinton's use of a personal server came to light earlier this year, her attorney David Kendall and the law firm he works for have often been consulted by Congress to produce requested email documentation. In fact, Kendall has been in charge of a number of thumb drives containing Clinton's emails, some of which are classified as top secret. 

By now you know former Secretary of State 

Hillary Clinton had not one, not two, but hundreds of emails containing classified information passing through her unsecure, personal email server. Since the revelations of Clinton's use of a personal server came to light earlier this year, her attorney David Kendall and the law firm he works for have often been consulted by Congress to produce requested email documentation. In fact, Kendall has been in charge of a number of thumb drives containing Clinton's emails, some of which are classified as top secret. 

Now that we know Clinton had hundreds of classified documents on her server, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Chuck Grassley is pointing out Kendall, and the attorneys he works with on Clinton's behalf, don't have the proper high level security clearance needed to handle top secret, classified information. 

"Recent news reports indicate that as Secretary Clinton’s attorney you had a security clearance that was used to possess her official emails. In fact, according to a Washington Post report, the Department of State allegedly instructed you on “appropriate measures for physically securing” her classified emails.[1] However, since that report, the Intelligence Community Inspector General (IC IG) notified the Judiciary Committee that at least two emails on Secretary Clinton’s server were – and are – classified at the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) level. Importantly, according to the IC IG and Department of State Inspector General, the emails were classified at that level when created," Grassley wrote in a letter to Kendall Monday (bolding is mine). "In light of that particular classification, which generally requires advanced protocols such as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) and other similar arrangements to possess and view, it appears the FBI has determined that your clearance is not sufficient to allow you to maintain custody of the emails. Consistent with that determination, the FBI is now in custody of not only the thumb drives previously in your possession that allegedly contain all of Secretary Clinton’s emails, but also Secretary Clinton’s personal server that was used to maintain the top secret emails outside of a government facility.

"Further reporting indicates that Secretary Clinton may have provided you copies of her emails in December 2014 and that government officials realized that the emails contained classified information in May 2015 yet the Department of State did not deliver a safe to store the thumb drives until July 2015.[3] Thus, since at least May 2015 and possibly December 2014, it appears that in addition to not having an adequate security clearance, you did not have the appropriate tools in place to secure the thumb drives. Even with the safe, there are questions as to whether it was an adequate mechanism to secure TS/SCI material.[4] Given the importance of securing and protecting classified information, especially TS/SCI material, it is imperative to confirm when, how, and why you, and any of your associates, received a security clearance in connection with your representation of Ms. Clinton and whether it was active while you had custody of Secretary Clinton’s emails," Grassley continued.

Because Clinton's possession of classified information on her personal server has prompted a criminal FBI investigation, Grassley also asked Kendall whether the former Secretary's security clearance has been suspended until the inquiry is over. 

Meanwhile, we learned over the weekend that the same prosecutor who built a case against General David Petraeus for improper handling of classified information, is looking at the Clinton case. 

Via: Townhall

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VICTIMS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) says he has invited the family members of victims of illegal immigrant crimes to testify before Congress.

According to the Iowa lawmaker, the hearing will examine the breakdown of immigration enforcement under the Obama administration and the repercussions of lax immigration enforcement — specifically the impact on families victimized by illegal immigrant crime.

“Congress has a constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight of the executive branch of government to make sure the laws are being faithfully executed and carried out as intended. Little oversight has been done by the previous majority to ensure the administration is exercising sound judgment and acting within the immigration laws.   It’s clear they have taken far too much liberty and are essentially trying to write the laws themselves,” Grassley said in a statement.

The hearing will be next Tuesday. In addition to victimized families Grassley says he has also invited the Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Sarah Saldana, and the Director of Citizenship and Immigration Services Leon Rodriguez to testify.

“This hearing is intended to highlight how misguided the Obama administration’s lax enforcement policies are and how these policies are putting Americans in harm’s way,” he said.

The hearing comes on the heels of the recent murder of a young woman in the sanctuary city of San Francisco, allegedly by an illegal immigrant with a long rap sheet and multiple deportations.

Via: BREITBART

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Legal Expert: Obama Is ‘Undermining The Rule Of Law’

John Yoo, the son of Korean immigrants, begins this exclusive 34-minute video interview with The Daily Caller exhibiting his characteristic sense of humor as he reacts to the “amusing circus” of radical progressives who show up regularly and want him fired from the University of California – Berkeley because his views are supposedly unacceptable.

As for the man with a huge paper mache head in the likeness of Yoo’s head, Yoo wonders, “How much rent does he pay to store my head?”

Working in a very left-wing area, Yoo explains why he doesn’t want liberals to be in charge of running anything.

Apart from being an irritant to the left, John Yoo is Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law School of Law at Cal Berkeley. He is also a visiting scholar with the American Enterprise Institute. Graduating from Harvard, he attended law school at Yale, clerked at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Supreme Court. He was general counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and has authored seven books and over 90 articles for scholarly journals.

Yoo is an erudite scholar, a popular speaker and an avid columnist. He was a senior legal adviser at the Justice Department in the George W. Bush Administration and became well known for his opinion about presidential powers.

According to Yoo, President Obama is, without precedent, “undermining the rule of law” by picking winners and losers in the enforcement of laws, as opposed to how they were dictated by Congress.

John Yoo invokes Superman’s “Bizarro World,” where things are the opposite of what they are supposed to be, in assessing Obama’s presidency. To Yoo, Obama’s view of the presidency — exhibiting weakness abroad and yet dominance in domestic politics — this is “the reverse of what the framers’ presidency” prescribed.

Via: The Daily Caller

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IRS: AMNESTIED ILLEGALS DON’T NEED TO HAVE FILED RETURNS TO ACCESS TAX CREDITS FOR ILLEGAL WORK

John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigrants granted executive amnesty can claim back tax credits for work they performed illegally, even if they never filed a tax return during those years, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has confirmed to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

In a written response to questions Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked Koskinen following a February hearing on the IRS budget, the IRS commissioner clarified his earlier assertions that illegal immigrants granted executive amnesty — and Social Security numbers — can access Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) for years they were working in the country illegally.

Back in February, Koskinen said that in order to claim the tax credits the amnestied illegal immigrant would have had to have filed returns in the past.

In his written statement to Grassley, released Wednesday, Koskinen went another step, saying an illegal immigrant granted amnesty could claim back tax credits regardless if they had filed returns in the past.

“To clarify my earlier comments on EITC, not only can an individual amend a prior year return to claim EITC, but an individual who did not file a prior year return may file a return and claim EITC (subject to refund limitations under section 6511 of the Internal Revenue Code). I would note that filing new returns for prior years would likely be difficult, since filers would have to reconstruct earnings and other records for years when they were not able to work on the books,” Koskinen said in his written response.

According to the IRS, illegal immigrants granted amnesty, and with it Social Security numbers, can claim up to three years prior in back tax credits.

“Section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code requires an SSN on the return, but a taxpayer claiming the EITC is not required to have an SSN before the close of the year for which the EITC is claimed. At your request, the IRS has reviewed the relevant statutes and legislative history, and we believe that the 2000 Chief Counsel Advice (CCA) on this issue is correct,” Koskinen added.

With this benefit Illegal immigrants granted amnesty could receive tens of thousands of dollars in back tax refunds.

Via: Breitbart

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