Stonetear’s Secret: Immunized Former Clinton Aide Allegedly Sought Advice On Removing Email Address For “Very VIP” Official
We have been discussing the controversy surrounding the decision of the
Justice Department to give immunity to former State Department staffer, Bryan
Pagliano and tech specialist Paul Combetta — thereby removing much
of the pressure that could have been brought to bear with the threat of
criminal charges. That immunity deal became even more questionable when it was disclosed that
Combetta used Bleachbit to destroy email records despite his
knowledge that those records were being sought by Congress. Now, there is an
allegation that Combetta sought advice on the website for how to hide a
“VIP’s (VERY VIP) email address.” If true, that would show a
conscious effort to conceal the identity of the VIP and illegally alter federal
records. Either Combetta did not disclose this effort in violation of his
immunity deal or the Justice Department effectively removed a serious threat of
indictment though the agreement.
The new information was disclosed by
Reddit users who found a series of questions from what they say is Combetta who
worked under user name of “stonetear.” Here is one of the queries on July 24,
2014 during the period when the State Department first asked Clinton aide
Cheryl Mills to turn over the former secretary of state’s work-related emails
from her personal server:
“Hello all- I may be facing a very
interesting situation where I need to strip out a VIP’s (VERY VIP) email
address from a bunch of archived email… Does anyone have experience with
something like this, and/or suggestions on how this might be accomplished?”
Various people told Stonetear that
it was not possible and one warned “[If Microsoft Exchange] allowed this, it
could result in major legal issues. There may be ways to hack a solution, but I
am not aware of any.”
The response (if from Combetta)
would show a clear effort to conceal evidence:
“The issue is that these emails
involve the private email address of someone you’d recognize, and we’re trying
to replace it with a placeholder address as to not expose it.”
It is such an amazing admission that
I would like confirmation that this was not a set up. It is hard for me to
believe that the FBI would give immunity to a guy who openly solicited advice
on hiding information being sought as federal records — the same guy who would
later destroy evidence being sought under congressional subpoena. Such a person
would be at serious risk of indictment and many prosecutors would go ahead and
charge while leaving open a plea bargain with cooperation. Instead, Combetta
got immunity and has now refused to testify before Congress.
The profile “stonetear” was created
in 2011 and registered to Paul Combetta. The email address stonetear@gmail.com
is also linked to Combetta’s name, and the domain name combetta.com is
registered under that email.
Later, when the questions were
found, Stonetear began deleting his comments and Reddit readers made videos and
screen shots of the deletions as they were occurring.
The allegation could prove
particularly embarrassing for FBI Director James Comey who has been criticized
for opting not to seek charges despite conflicts in testimony, the deletions of
email, and mishandling of classified information. If this is indeed Combetta,
it is hard to believe that a contractor would come up unilaterally with the
idea of changing federal records to remove the identifying information.
Immunity deals do include provisions
for rescinding the agreements if a witness fails to disclose information or
misrepresents facts or fails to cooperate. The Reddit material represents an
extremely serious development, if true. Congress would have ample reason to
investigate such an effort and enforce its subpoena authority.
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