Are Jason Branum and Bryan Brunsting victims of Intelligence Community Abuses? We had an opportunity to sit down with Branum for an exclusive Q and A. Here are his takes on his controversial case.
Q: Why did the FBI begin their investigation into the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department?
A: To get a clear picture of what happened in our case, you must look at the time line as well as what was taking place in our country. Senator Nunes’ memo put it best, the Obama administration politicized and weaponized the FBI and DOJ. It’s very apparent to me, they were ramping up the 2016 elections with the push against American Law-Enforcement. Also, Sheriff Baca had a personal conflict with the FBI Los Angeles office over a completely unrelated case.
Q: Did the Sheriff’s Department investigate your specific incident?
A: Yes, it was cleared 5 times. Twice by ICIB (Internal Criminal Investigation Bureau), Twice by IA (Internal Affairs), and a special counsel committee. All of which proved no crime had been committed and all actions taken by my partner and I were within policy. It was also a District Attorney reject at the state level.
Q: If your incident happened in 2010, why did they indict you at the end of 2013?
A: It wasn’t us they were even looking at. It isn’t like the alleged victim called them to complain. This entire situation started because of the hidden cell phone incident. The FBI used a career criminal from Men’s Central Jail as an informant and gave him a cell phone without notifying the Sheriff of L.A. County about their operation. Deputy personal found the cell phone and refused to turn it over to the FBI. The Sheriff had investigators follow these FBI agents to their homes. Clearly, the FBI took this personally and begin an investigation into the entire department, reviewing numerous documents and indicting as many people as they could for numerous reasons. Placing it all under an umbrella of police brutality inside the jails, and a poorly run Sheriffs Department under Baca’s watch.
Q: What did you think when they came down with the indictment?
A: I thought everything was going to be fine. I believed that in the court process, we were going to put everything on the table, bring all facts and truth to the table for the court and jury to decide. This was the farthest from what happened. The FBI and prosecution investigated and conducted themselves in the court for results, not the truth. Their entire approach was pandering to the juries emotional cords and it worked for them.
Q: Do you think the FBI believed in the case?
A: It became apparent quickly, that they were projecting lies to fulfill a political agenda against law enforcement. The witnesses only made certain statements after they got their none-target/immunity letters. There were documented meetings where the FBI and prosecutors met with the two witnesses where they were coached and asked leading questions to support the story that matched what the prosecution and FBI were looking for, not the truth.
Q: Do you believe that your case, was approached with a Comey/McCabe style practice?
A: Absolutely. It has been proven that the FBI has been weaponized and has quite a few agents that operate above the law where the moral compass has been compromised. I believe that over time, due to the horrible leadership the FBI has had, it created small pockets of agents the conduct themselves with this “the end justifies the means” approach. With complete disregard for the law. They have been investigating for political purposes, and letting other people walk free. This is easily displayed in the actions taken by the FBI against President Trump. They also refused to indict Hillary, when they had an exuberant amount of evidence against her. It’s disgusting.
Q: Do you believe Jason Dalton is one of those Comey/McCabe agents?
A: Yes, I do. We know that Dalton was present when questions were posed on Capitol Hill regarding the dossier used to get the FISA warrant to surveille Carter Page.
Q: What sources are you referring to?
A: Recently, Omar Montoya, which is a former FBI agent, attempted to be a whistle blower on corrupt FBI tactics. Comey, and the FBI destroyed Montoya’s life and reputation to silence him. In the article written about Montoya’s situation, it states that McCabe’s management style was strongly influential and displayed in the FBI’s Los Angeles office where the agent who prosecuted our case is located. As our case played out over the years, we bared witness fist hand to these unethical corrupt FBI tactics used by Agent Jason Dalton and the FBI Los Angeles office.
Q: Has Agent Jason Dalton been involved in any other questionable cases?
A: Yes, he has. Besides our case, he was seen at the FISA application congressional hearings, there has been reports of other cases as well. An investigation Agent Dalton conducted shortly after ours, was deemed a “Rotten Egg” by a Superior Court Judge Chet L. Taylor. The judge sharply criticized Dalton’s investigation. In another situation, Agent Dalton tricked an individual to come to a location over immigration issues. Once Dalton had him there, he pressed and interviewed him for hours even after the individual requested an attorney. If they are looking for someone that is abusing the powers of law enforcement, and victimizing people civil rights, they should be looking at Agent Jason Dalton.
Q: Do you think he used these unethical tactics in your case?
A: I can only imagine the type of pressure or tactics he used on the two “witnesses” in our case. Which made two people completely change their story years after the incident. Granted, one of the witnesses, Joshua Sather had lied from the beginning to get his job back after he quit. He is the reason this minor use of force became anything to investigate. The other, Porsha Singh, never said anything other than the truth before the FBI got involved. They asked her leading questions which she quickly responded with whatever answer she knew the FBI wanted to hear. After the FBI conducted their interviews, the accounts portrayed by the witnesses were progressively more exaggerated, and many aspects stated were complete fabrications. Which leads us back to the coaching and intimidation the FBI and prosecutors used in the beginning.
Q: What is the most concerning aspect of this case to you?
A: The fact that they used the same tactic against two unknown citizens in southern California, and the President of the United States. That means they can do this to any American citizen and they have total disregard for any repercussion because they feel they are above the law. The FBI is not supposed to be a political entity. They are supposed to be a non-political law enforcement agency that seeks out legitimate crimes. As we have seen with Trump, and ourselves, this is not the FBI’s agenda today.
Q: Do you think that Comey and McCabe’s influence is widespread across the entire FBI?
A: No, I do not. In fact, there has been recent articles of many agents wanting to step forward and speak out about the corruption at the FBI. I think that most of the agents at the FBI do an amazing job. They do the job that they were sworn to do with integrity. But like in any large organization, I believe there are corrupt and dirty individuals that ruin the name for an entire organization. It is my belief that Comey, McCabe, and Dalton are a representation of what is wrong with the FBI. I think Trump has done a great job at cleaning it up, but there is still work to be done.
Q: Did the sheriff’s department support you through this process?
A: The union supported and payed for our representation, which I appreciate. The Sheriffs department under Sheriff McDonnel on the other hand, has done nothing but make sure we didn’t received help in any way. Sheriff McDonnel made specific policies silencing anyone from speaking on our behalf, raise money for us, write letters, etc. After the verdict, numerous people wanted to write letters of character to the court on our behalf, but the Sheriff shut them down, and threatened to terminate anyone who assisted. It should be noted, that some people felt so strongly about what happened to us, that they went against the sheriff and wrote letters for us regardless.
Q: With all the recent evidence proving the political agenda and corruption of the FBI against Trump, why do you think some people still don’t believe it.
A: I think that in our case, no one wants to believe that a governmental entity with that much power, would do something for a corrupt political reason. I personally find it terrifying, especially since I’ve experienced it firsthand. Thank God Trump won. It scares me to think of where we would be if Hillary were president, where this type of lawlessness at the highest levels of the government, would be allowed to continue. It’s my hope, that under the current administration, this miscarriage of justice against Bryan and I, will be corrected.
They should go to jail. You should feel this way about the brutality at the hands of the police. A few of you are committing crimes and not answering for them and giving the good officers a bad name and reputation!