Fixed labor report? Comey directs FBI to prove Clinton complicity

AROUND THE BLOCK

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Trump claims Clinton fixed good labor report

Giuliani calls for “complete and thorough” FBI investigation of Clinton bribes

The New York Times reported today that the government, delivering the last major snapshot of the economy before Election Day, reported on Friday that employers added 161,000 workers in October, a performance that suggested a healthy outlook for the months ahead.

The official unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 percent, from 5 percent. And average hourly earnings rose 2.8 percent year over year, a level not reached since 2008.

As the Times reported, Vincent Reinhart, chief economist at Standish Mellon, explained, “The main message is from the payroll report: Jobs are being created and earnings are going up.” But a report that goes “right down the middle of the fairway,” he added, “means you can spin it any way you want.”

And the Trump campaign did spin it their way.

Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s campaign manager immediately issued a statement saying, “This jobs report, from the corrupt Clinton-Obama Labor Department just days before election day, once again shows that this election is fixed and that crooked Hillary will do whatever it takes to swing the election her way.”

In an interview, Conway, expanding on her latest “crooked Hillary” characterization said, “We have heard that the Clinton campaign has given money to Labor Department officials to cook the numbers her way.”

When pressed on where the campaign heard this allegation, Conway said that it is “all over the news,” including “extensive reporting by Bret Baier of Fox and Breitbart.com.”

Trump campaign surrogate Rudy Giuliani, more apoplectic than usual, appeared on Fox and Friends this morning and called for a “complete and thorough investigation of this clearly illegal action by Hillary Clinton and her campaign.”

“I have spoken to my good friend James Comey and have demanded that the FBI open an immediate investigation into Hillary Clinton’s obvious bribing of the Labor Department.”

Giuliani ended his appearance on Fox and Friends by saying, "I told you we've got a couple things up our sleeve that should turn this around."

Director Comey, for his part, declined requests for comment but did release a letter to Congress which said in part:

“Although I cannot assess at this time the veracity of this allegation of bribery of the Labor Department by Hillary Clinton, I have directed the investigative unit of the FBI to immediately work 24 hours a day from now to Election Day to prove that it is”

Email option "off the table" for Clinton

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Clinton camp looking at future messaging options

Email disaster leads to complete evaluation of how communication will be handled going forward

Stung by both the recent James Comey announcement that emails found on former, disgraced congressman Anthony Weiner’s computer might be relevant to the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server as well as the constant drip of campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails from WikiLeaks, Clinton insiders are exploring communication options when she becomes president.

“Around the Block” has learned exclusively that staffers have compiled a list of potential communications alternatives and are poised to present the options to Mrs. Clinton and other senior members of her inner circle on November 9, the day after the election. While not complete, as of this writing, the following is what they are considering:

Communication Option	Pros	Cons
Smoke Signals	Messages dissipate over time, can't be reviewed; no possible subpoenas Don’t need fancy equipment Only “hackable” if hacker is looking at the smoke Might be fun building fires	Limited, line of sight range Less useful after sunset Can’t use on “Spare the Air” days
Drums	Similar to smoke regarding dissipation/review and subpoenas Only “hackable” if hacker is listening when drums beat Work day and night in all kinds of weather	Drums with decent range are expensive Even best drums have limited range Message can be muddled if sent in vicinity of a rock concert
Carrier Pigeons	Long-ish range (for a bird) Can be deployed from any rooftop Less vulnerable to hackers Bird seed is cheap	Bird poop is disgusting Vulnerable to shotguns, rifles and drones Skinny bird legs limit message length
Cans Attached by String	Safe from hackers, sniffers, listening devices, etc. Really cheap Added benefit: you can eat or drink the contents before deploying system	Welch’s Frozen Grape Juice cans work best but hard to find nowadays Correspondents need to be in the same room "Can you hear me now?" problems: Clarity may be spotty if string isn’t taut enough

While there has been no final decision on which method of communication will be deployed, it has been unequivocally determined that email is not being considered. According to one Clinton staffer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, “One thing is for sure – we’ll never use email again. I mean, do you think we’re that stupid?”