NAACP Looking For Revelance

The NAACP realizes that it has lost its mojo.
They will seek a new CEO afer their current President, Cornell W. Brooks, completes his three year term. The NY Post reports:

“We believe as an organization, we need to retool to become better advocates, better at educating the public, better at involving them,” Derrick Johnson, vice chairman of the NAACP board of directors, said in a conference call announcing the change.

Johnson said the group would embark on a national “listening tour” as part of its re-branding. That kind of tour, which is a common strategy among politicians as they seek to gain public support, has never been done in the NAACP’s 108-year history, Johnson said.

Their "listening tour" better pay heed to their 75% illegitimacy race and the fact that although they only comprise 13% of the US population they commit over half the murders in the US. Is it poverty? Racism?  Sociologists are divided and there is no clear verdict, but business as usual means nothing changes. Educating the public does not stop murders and it gives the appearance that NAACP officials are trying to shore up support and perhaps lagging donations.

It's not social problems or financial woes that plague us, it's moral issues.

Audit Bags A Weiner

Ex-Congressman and recovering sextaholic Anthony Weiner was informed that an audit of his 2013 run for Mayor of NYC uncovered some irregularities.

Weiner learned Thursday that the city Campaign Finance Board ordered his 2013 mayoral campaign committee to repay over $195,000 in public funds and whacked it with a fine of $64,956 after irregularities were identified in an audit.

The biggest portion of the fines resulted from the campaign’s failure to explain tens of thousands of dollars in expenses during the campaign and more than $100,000 afterward.

Auditors at the CFB also identified more than $1,500 in expenses that seemed to be personal in nature, including for dry cleaning bills.

Records show that as of July, Weiner still had nearly $4 million in his mayoral campaign account.

He received $1.6 million in taxpayer matching funds.

Story here.

Seriously, what will the NY Post do if Weiner goes underground? If he decides to live out the rest of his life in a monastery; there to fulfill himself through a life of tranquility and self denial?

Nah, that'll never happen. Weiner is drawn to mischief and public controversy as a dung beetle is drawn to a herd of elephants. The whiff of a fifteen year old pubescent female will give him the shakes. A trashy porn star wanna-be can still get him to flash his Hanes clad member throughout cyberdom.

He is compulsive, impulse driven. How this hot mess got to be a Congressman is beyond me.

This poor boy has got his wires crossed and three weeks on a horse is not going to fix that. We can expect more entertainment from this lad; all Weiner, all the time.,

This Is Just Getting Better And Better ... Or Deeper And Deeper

The Drudge Report just gave the Daily Caller about a zillion hits with a link to a story about John Kerry helping his daughter gets millions in taxpayer dollars.

More than $9 million of Department of State money has been funneled through the Peace Corps to a nonprofit foundation started and run by Secretary of State John Kerry’s daughter, documents obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation show.

The Department of State funded a Peace Corps program created by Dr. Vanessa Kerry and officials from both agencies, records show. The Peace Corps then awarded the money without competition to a nonprofit Kerry created for the program.

Initially, the Peace Corps awarded Kerry’s group — now called Seed Global Health — with a three-year contract worth $2 million of State Department money on Sept. 10, 2012, documents show. Her father was then the chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, which oversees both the Department of State and the Peace Corps.

Seed secured a four-year extension in September 2015, again without competition. This time, the Peace Corps gave the nonprofit $6.4 million provided by the Department of State while John Kerry was secretary of state.

H/T Drudge

Brooklyn DA Fined $15,000

My youngest daughter moved to New York City this year in order to get a job in the fashion industry. She got the job and is now living in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.

Brooklyn.
The problem with Brooklyn is that there are over 2.6 million people living there and even a low percentage of idiots is still a fairly large number. And so of course they elected an idiot as District Attorney. What is wrong with this cheapskate?

There’s no such thing as a free lunch — unless you’re Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson.

The food-grubbing district attorney has agreed to pay a $15,000 fine to settle charges that his security detail bought him lunch weekdays for five months after he took office and then had taxpayers reimburse them, the city Conflicts of Interest Board revealed on Wednesday.

Thompson, who took over as DA in 2014, made members of his security detail dip into their own pockets to buy him $2,043 worth of meals between January 2014 and May 2014, the board said.

The dishes they fetched included sandwiches, bagels, burgers, chicken and salmon, according to a source familiar with his preferences.

“They didn’t know if they were going to get the money back,” said one source.
Thompson admitted in a settlement statement that his cops were eventually paid back with taxpayer funds with “authorization” by his fiscal office.

Story here.

More Idiots In Action

I really shouldn't read the news any more.

NYC's idiot mayor has just endangered seniors and children and a bunch of other people.From the Daily News:

In front of emotional supporters, Mayor de Blasio signed legislation Monday that will prohibit employers from inquiring about a candidate's criminal record prior to a job offer.

"Today I see hope for people like me," said Marilyn Scales, 52, of the Bronx, who said she never has had a full-time job because of her record for dealing heroin.

This woman sold poison to people. She shouldn't be allowed to have a paper route. In many other countries she'd be in jail for life or rotting in an unmarked grave. Now she's pissing and moaning because she can't get a full time job - like millions of other people who didn't sell heroin.

While NYS law does prohibit asking for an arrest history, it does allow criminal history (convictions) to be viewed, particularly for  businesses such as child day care centers (N.Y. Executive Law 845-B) and other professions where a criminal conviction is enough to remove you from employment considerations.

Perhaps NYC is still allowing these, but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't. I hope it can only apply to city-licensed businesses. Can you imagine hiring a convicted rapist to work at a long term rehab center? Or a convicted felon - a thief -  to work at a jewelry store? Or how about Marilyn Scales working in a pharmaceutical warehouse?

These people have lost their minds. No one is responsible for their actions any more. No one need fear any consequences of wrong doing. God forbid anyone should suffer a disadvantage because they're a screw up.

The Baltimore Chief Of Police Goes Mayberry RFD

It is a well established axiom that a man will say and do just about anything in order to keep a good paying job. The Baltimore Chief of Police, whose salary is $190,000, has brought this to a new level.

Right when Baltimore's murder rate is going through the ceiling and the morale of the police is dropping through the basement,  Chief Batts drops this gem:

“Our reform efforts will very likely see more police officers arrested,” Batts wrote. “We will have more officers who are forced out because their outdated, outmoded views of policing do not match the standards the community expects and demands.”

This is my prediction, many of Baltimore's best, brightest and bravest will be looking for other jobs, or they will use defensive policing tactics - the CYA patrol manual - with a vengeance. Baltimore wants a kinder, gentler police department? Stay tuned.

The NYPD proved that aggressive policing is what drops the crime rate, not touchy-feely community relations. The problem may perhaps be the standards of some officers, but the troubled Baltimore minority community has no standards. Sure, the community leaders and do-gooders come out and dance for the cameras, but when they're gone and the police are no where to be found, that's when the real community standards take over. And we've seen what those are in Baltimore and Ferguson.

Liberals Ruined The Sauce

The Mayor of NYC is Italian; he should know better than this.

When the spaghetti sauce is good, don't mess with the recipe.

Leave. It. Alone.

NYC had a good thing going with its anti-crime sauce that another Italian Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, whipped up in the NYPD kitchen. The gangbangers and violent criminals didn't like it but the good citizens of the Big Apple enjoyed it's savory flavor for several decades.

Mayor de Blasio and his merry band of insane liberals had to go and screw it up. That's what happens when amateurs get in the kitchen.

Nice going idiots, you ruined it up for everyone. You're bound and determined to turn every American city into Detroit.

MASSIVE UPTICK IN NYC SHOOTINGS

In just the past week, shootings increased 66 percent, with 40 occurring between last Monday and this past Sunday, the sources said. By comparison, there were 24 shootings during the same week in 2014.

The number of shooting victims also rose 76 percent during that time period, with 44 people injured by gunfire compared to 25 for the same period last year.

Shootings are up for the month as well, jumping 33 percent, to 128 incidents, in the past 28 days, sources said. Last year, there were 96 shootings for the same period.

More victims took bullets, too. In the past 28 days, there were 106 shooting victims compared to the 85 at this time last year — a jump of 25 percent.

Story's here in the NY Post.

Unbelieveable

The Sheriff of Wicomico County, MD, made the two hour drive to Baltimore with his deputies and an armored vehicle (MRAP) to assist the Baltimore cops during the riots. What he found out when he got there is disturbing.

“I hadn’t planned to go to Baltimore at all. I watched the events unfold Saturday night like we all did, and was very concerned about what I saw, and the the lack of response Saturday night,” he said. “I immediately rallied up the troops. We made sure our MRAP was prepared and ready. … We were assigned to assigned to protect Baltimore City Police headquarters, all of E. Fayette Street up to City Hall, to include City Hall. There wasn’t a whole lot of activity taking place at all. We could smell that putrid smell of burning tires and a city on fire when as we came into the city.

[...]“I was sick to my stomach like everybody else. … This was urban warfare, no question about it. They were coming in absolutely beaten down. The [city officers] got out of their vehicles, thanked us profusely for being there, apologized to us for having to be there. They said we could have handled this, we were very capable of handling this, but we were told to stand down, repeatedly told to stand down,” he said. “I had never heard that order come from anyone — we went right out to our posts as soon as we got there, so I never heard the mayor say that. But repeatedly these guys, and there were many high-ranking officials from the Baltimore City Police Department … and these guys told me they were essentially neutered from the start. They were spayed from the start. They were told to stand down, you will not take any action, let them destroy property.

Story here.

These decisions were made in the Mayor's Office. She is back pedaling now but the responsibility for the massive amount of property destruction is hers. 

No Bush 45

I've had my fill of Bush's.

I am right up to here with Bush's.

No more Bush's.

No more "Read My Lips. No new taxes." - Bush41
We got a nice increase in existing taxes.
And fancy new ones like the Audio Home Recording Act.

No more "Mission Accomplished." - Bush43
No it wasn't.
Still isn't.
But we did get:

1. more entitlements ( in the first 7 years Medicare Part D added almost $320 bn to the national debt) and the first in a long line of
2. financial bailouts, first for the automotive industry (GM alone got $49 bn and reneged on $11 bn in pay backs) and then Wall Street ($700 bn).

So, what was the mission again?

Not a chance for “I think Detroit would do real well if we started repopulating it with young, aspirational people.” - "Jeb" Bush45 wanna be.
Sure, concentration camps.
Filled with conservative youths.
Or illegal aliens.

Here's ya young, aspirational youts Detroit

More here for Jeb's latest "let's see what I yank out of my ass" comment.

Really, this guy's an idiot. Detroit's problem is 60 years of corrupt Democratic political control.

Also, Dianny of All The Right Snark now has her own site at the Patriot Retort. Go visit.

Pastors 2, Mayor 0

The Mayor of Houston just got spanked. She tried to derail a jury trial instigated by local pastors against her efforts to muzzle them. The judge denied the emotion.

A group of pastors suing the city of Houston and its first openly lesbian mayor just got a piece of very good news.

Harris County District Court Judge Robert Schaffer ruled Tuesday against a motion by the city to deny the pastors a jury trial and instead have a decision rendered by a “special master.”

Mayor Annise Parker made national headlines when she and her city attorney issued a subpoena to area pastors involved in the suit, demanding copies of their sermons.

The conflict began when the major and council members enacted a new ordinance allowing transgender individuals to use city facilities such as public restrooms designated for either sex.

Story here.

Somebody ... Make Up Your Minds

Just what the f**k do you people want?

Sometimes it just ain't worth while getting out of bed and strapping on your gear.

First they scream at you for being too aggressive and writing too any tickets, then you get threatened for not being aggressive enough. From the NY Post:

It’s a slowdown showdown.

At precincts across the city, top brass are cracking the whip on summons activity and even barring many cops from taking vacation and sick days, The Post has learned.

Throughout the city, precincts are being ordered to hand up to borough commanders “activity sheets” indicating the number of arrests and summonses per shift, sources told The Post.

“Police officers around the city are now threatened with transfers, no vacation time and sick time unless they write summonses,” one union source said.

“This is the same practice that caused officers to be labeled racist and abusers of power.”

So you've got politicians, activists and community organizers attacking you from one side and the brass preparing a massive blue enema on the other. Reminds me of that Ricky Nelson song, "Garden Party " where he sings, "You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself."

Again, as the Post puts it:

It’s hard to miss the irony: The same people who have called for an end to Broken Windows-style policing in New York City now blast cops for engaging in a work slowdown.

The NYPD essentially stopped writing tickets for minor offenses in the week following the Dec. 20 assassination of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu.

A New York Times editorial called the slowdown a “public act of extortion” and called on the leaders of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association to abandon it.

Right. But only five months earlier the same people at the NY Times were lambasting the cops for exactly the opposite reasons:

The mayor and the commissioner should also begin a serious discussion of the future of “broken windows” policing, the strategy of relentlessly attacking petty offenses to nurture a sense of safety and order in high-crime neighborhoods, which, in theory, leads to greater safety and order. In reality, the link is hypothetical, as many cities and towns across the country have enjoyed historic decreases in violent crime since the 1990s, whatever strategies they used. And the vast majority of its targets are not serious criminals, or criminals at all.

Of course Mayor de Blasio climbed on this exact same bandwagon when running for office

De Blasio was elected in 2013 after making a promise to end the NYPD's aggressive use of stop-and-frisk a centerpiece of his campaign. In his ads and speeches, de Blasio appealed to the NYPD's critics by labeling stop-and-frisk as unfair and discriminatory due to its disproportionate use in minority communities. As mayor, de Blasio followed through on his promise to end the tactic: Compared with previous years, stop-and-frisk is rarely employed and crime has remained low.

However, current and former officers have voiced frustrations with a de facto arrest quota system that has long existed in the NYPD. And after the change in the stop-and-frisk policy, some say the arrests that were once made as a result of offenses discovered through the searches have been replaced with an increased focus on minor quality-of-life offenses like public intoxication and turnstile jumping. Critics inside and outside of the department argue this new approach is also discriminatory towards African-Americans and Latinos.

And people are wondering why the cops are saying "screw it."

Mayor De Blasio Has The NYPD Rash

iOTW has linked an article describing how Mayor De Blasio is offering an olive branch (sorta) to the NYPD unions while at the same time he is bringing pressure on local dems to publicly criticize the police for shaming him in public demonstrations.

While Mayor Bill de Blasio was personally coaxing the city’s police union presidents to meet with him, his top aides were on the phones with lawmakers urging them to blast PBA President Patrick Lynchand other officers for turning their backs on the mayor following the assassinations of two of New York’s Finest, DNAinfo New York has learned.

As late as Monday afternoon — the same time de Blasio was speaking with police union leaders to set up Tuesday’s détente to possibly mend their fractured relationship — the mayor’s government affairs honchos were privately cold-calling the city’s Democratic delegation of city and state elected officials, asking them to publicly criticize Lynch and those officers who dissed the mayor.

“City Hall wanted me to blast the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association for turning their backs on him,” a Big Apple legislator told “On The Inside.” “They called up Monday, said they were calling all of us, and that it was our obligation to stand up defending the mayor.”

DNAinfo story here.

The unions have got to be in hiz honor's head and his ass real bad for him to be thrashing around like this. He can't figure out whether to use lotion or foam to stop the itching and burning.

Go ahead Mayor, keep scratching. It'll only make it worse. Cops are already slowing down enforcement efforts to a crawl and while it isn't blue flu, it's definitely a cold shoulder.

Cleaning Out The Politicians

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

“No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.”

~Mark Twain

It's Not Called Capital Deterrence

University researchers have discovered what has been pretty well understood for millennia, the death penalty deters crime.

From the Wintery Knight:

“Science does really draw a conclusion. It did. There is no question about it,” said Naci Mocan, an economics professor at the University of Colorado at Denver. “The conclusion is there is a deterrent effect.”

A 2003 study he co-authored, and a 2006 study that re-examined the data, found that each execution results in five fewer homicides, and commuting a death sentence means five more homicides. “The results are robust, they don’t really go away,” he said. “I oppose the death penalty. But my results show that the death penalty (deters) — what am I going to do, hide them?”

Statistical studies like his are among a dozen papers since 2001 that capital punishment has deterrent effects. They all explore the same basic theory — if the cost of something (be it the purchase of an apple or the act of killing someone) becomes too high, people will change their behavior (forego apples or shy from murder).

And specifically:

• Each execution deters an average of 18 murders, according to a 2003 nationwide study by professors at Emory University. (Other studies have estimated the deterred murders per execution at three, five and 14).

One study suggests that when, in January 2000, Illinois Governor George Ryan suspended scheduled executions and commuted all death penalties to life imprisonment, the result was that 150 more people were murdered in a four year period in the state.

More here and here.

No Wonder The Mooslims And Rooskies Are Tearing The World A New Asshole

SecState John F'in Kerry takes the training wheels off his Strawberry Shortcake bikey

President Barack Obama competes in the Tour de ShortPants

Meanwhile Putin is buggering the Ukraine and the ISIL is lopping off heads in Syria and Iraq.

More People Who Should Be Shot

There were 28 pages on the congressional 9/11 report that were completely redacted by President Bush. A few Congressmen requested access to see these pages and were shocked at what they found - the active participation of the Saudi government in the murder of nearly 3,000 Americans.

There needs to be a reckoning. What the hell do the Muslims have over our leaders?

After the 9/11 attacks, the public was told al Qaeda acted alone, with no state sponsors.

But the White House never let it see an entire section of Congress’ investigative report on 9/11 dealing with “specific sources of foreign support” for the 19 hijackers, 15 of whom were Saudi nationals.

It was kept secret and remains so today.

President Bush inexplicably censored 28 full pages of the 800-page report. Text isn’t just blacked-out here and there in this critical-yet-missing middle section. The pages are completely blank, except for dotted lines where an estimated 7,200 words once stood (this story by comparison is about 1,000 words).

A pair of lawmakers who recently read the redacted portion say they are “absolutely shocked” at the level of foreign state involvement in the attacks.

[...] The Saudis deny any role in 9/11, but the CIA in one memo reportedly found “incontrovertible evidence” that Saudi government officials — not just wealthy Saudi hardliners, but high-level diplomats and intelligence officers employed by the kingdom — helped the hijackers both financially and logistically. The intelligence files cited in the report directly implicate the Saudi embassy in Washington and consulate in Los Angeles in the attacks, making 9/11 not just an act of terrorism, but an act of war.

The findings, if confirmed, would back up open-source reporting showing the hijackers had, at a minimum, ties to several Saudi officials and agents while they were preparing for their attacks inside the United States. In fact, they got help from Saudi VIPs from coast to coast:

More here.

New Yorkers Face A Socialist Tornado

As nanny state Major Bloomberg departs the political scene in New York City, New Yorkers must decide who will lead their stumbling, union-infected city.

From Breitbart:

Bloomberg is leaving his successor with the task of negotiating new contracts with most of the public sector unions in New York City. It is interesting to note that two great former New York governors, Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt, both opposed public sector unions because of the obvious public corruption and conflict of interest they represent. The public sector unions support the reelection campaigns of the very liberal politicians who set their pay.

Under Bloomie's 12-year tenure, the cost of public union pensions benefits alone have skyrocketed from $1.4 billion to $8.3 billion.

“Avoiding the hard choices is how Detroit went bankrupt,” the mayor declared in a speech earlier this year. Yet avoiding hard choices is precisely how Mayor Bloomberg has managed to direct the affairs of New York City and even increases services without significantly raising taxes. The efficient, pro-business façade maintained during the Bloomberg years is now about to disappear, revealing a local political equation that is unfamiliar to most residents and considerably to the left of even New York State’s liberal political center.

The front running Democratic candidate, Bill de Blasio, is an unrepentant socialist who would Santa Claus NYC into fiscal ruin.

De Blasio’s big idea: free universal prekindergarten for all children, paid for by a tax on those New Yorkers earning more than $500,000.

Fools like De Blasio forget that wealthy people also cast their votes with their feet.

Between 2000 and 2010, almost three and a half million New York residents left the state for greener, less greedy, pastures. New York State lost two Congressional seats after the 2010 census count, dropping from 29 to 27. This is the lowest number of NY Congressmen since 1823.

Our Impoverished Congress

Congressional leaders haven't had a raise? God forbid.

WASHINGTON - Haven't had a raise in a while? Well, neither has your member of Congress.

This month, congressional salaries slid to their lowest inflation-adjusted levels since December 1990.

When congressional approval ratings are at historic lows, congressional pay - $174,000 for rank-and-file senators and House members - may seem high. But some argue that shrinking paychecks for public service perpetuates a political culture where mostly the rich can afford to serve in office.

Members of Congress have to maintain households in two locations, one being Washington, one of the most expensive housing markets in the country even for rentals.

Solution: subsidized Congressional public housing, the exact same kind of dumps they provide for poor Americans. Every third occupant must be a crack whore or a drug dealer. That's OK. No need to thank me.

While lawmakers' relative pay is declining, their wealth is increasing: Many in Congress have vast personal wealth. Since 1992, according to Stanford University and the Center for Responsive Politics, congressional net worth increased significantly. Average American household net worth during that time declined. Yet average net worth among freshman members first elected last November stands at more than a million dollars.

Solution: Charge every Congressman $174,000 a year for the privilege of serving their Country. They'd still be worth more than 95% of their constituencies.

Better yet, place Congressional salaries on a merit or performance based scale. We do good, you do good. We have to suck it up, so do you. Under the Constitution, Congress is responsible for administering the nations currency system, It abdicated this responsibility in 1913 when the Federal Reserve system was created. It's time to make them responsible again.

From the Harvard Journal of Public Law & Policy:

[...]The truth is that we have been drifting away from the Framers’ vision for a very long time. Even before the economic crash of 2008, we did not have anything resembling a truly free economy.
One of the most important sectors of the economy, the banking sector, was already quasi‐socialist or corporatist. The Federal Reserve, with its monopoly powers and its chairman and governors appointed by the President, has been an extraconstitutional branch of government since its creation in 1913.

The bailouts, and the government ownership that has come with them, are a direct result of the Federal Reserve’s policies. At the same time, this government body has been eroding Americans’ capacity for self‐government by forcing them to adjust their lives to an overall inflationary economy.

This is a vicious cycle: The central bank creates a series of booms and busts that makes business planning very difficult. As a result, more and more businesses fail and turn to government for bailouts. The public is told that capitalism is to blame and becomes accustomed to the idea that only government is capable of long-term planning. When the next bust hits, the cycle repeats.

Look at the following chart and see how well Congress and the Federal Reserve have been doing w/r/t the economy.

The chart shows the 1988 to 2010 change in the number of businesses that have one or more employees (employers) and the 1997 to 2010 change in the number of businesses who have no employees (nonemployers). While employers who create jobs have increased from about 4.75 million to maybe 5.6 million (an increase of 18%) , the number of nonemployers have increase by 64%, from 14 million to about 23 million.

Nice work Congress, you're fired.

Note: I'm  having trouble linking to the pdf that contains the above chart. It is from the US Small Business Administration's FAQ for September, 2012.

UPDATE:
Okay, it is here.

Lock The Son Of A Bitch Up!

The President of the United States just openly aided and abetted terrorists by warning them that a warrant has been authorized for their arrest as the result of a federal sealed indictment. They are already crawling under a rock somewhere in some God-forsaken shithole. Good luck finding them...

President Obama, who’s taken heat for his administration’s crackdown on national security leaks, Friday acknowledged a sealed indictment in the Benghazi attack case and its disclosure to the press.

Obama probably won’t spend his vacation next week worrying about a contempt citation, but it was a notable slip for the ex-law professor.

This week CNN broke news of sealed indictments in the September 11, 2012 attack on U.S. outposts in Libya that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens, foreign service officer Sean Smith and ex-Navy SEALs Ty Woods and Glen Doherty.

The report was attributed to anonymous officials briefed on the case, and CNN noted the looming anniversary of the attacks.

During Friday’s White House press conference Fox News’ Ed Henry likewise cited the passage of 11 months since the attack and asked whether the perpetrators would be brought to justice.

“Well, the -- I also said that we'd get bin Laden and I didn't get him in 11 months. So we have informed, I think, the public that there's a sealed indictment,” Obama said.

Under federal criminal rules posted online by the Cornell University Law School, “no person may disclose the (sealed) indictment's existence except as necessary to issue or execute a warrant or summons.”

Disclosure of the existence of a sealed grand jury document “may be punished as a contempt of court.”

The Justice Department, along with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI’s New York Field Office -- officially responsible for the Benghazi investigation at its outset -- each declined to comment on the reports earlier this week.

Story here.