Clinton’s Crimes and Comey’s Choice

FBI Director James Comey knew he had to make a decision that would change his life, and maybe the history of his country, as he surveyed the piles of papers spread out in his office. The Deputy Director in charge of the investigation of Hillary Clinton – a criminal investigation, not some benign “security review” as the Clintonistas had tried to spin it – sat quietly, letting his boss think. The evidence was overwhelming. Hillary Clinton was clearly guilty of multiple felonies, and the Obama Department of Justice was not going to prosecute her. Now, it fell to Director Comey to decide what he would do about it.

James Comey was a veteran prosecutor and former Deputy Attorney General who convicted hundreds of criminals during his career before coming to direct the troubled Federal Bureau of Investigations. Until now, his integrity always came first, and he served faithfully regardless of the party in power, always careful to put aside any personal political agenda, though he'd seen more than enough people who didn't.

“There's no question, sir. None at all. She’s guilty.” said the Deputy Director, telling Comey nothing he did not know. He had sat in the secure classified information facility deep in the bowels of the Department of Justice when his agents had made their two-hour presentation to the stone-faced prosecutors. Clinton had grossly mishandled classified documents in violation of 18 United States Code Sections 793 and 1924. Some of the information Clinton had on the bathroom server was so sensitive that his agents needed upgraded clearances to see it, and it could only be discussed behind reinforced concrete walls in a room scanned twice a day for bugs. Clinton, because she did not want the accountability that came with using official email, had given industrious hackers and foreign governments carte blanche to pillage through some of America's most sensitive secrets. Though her loyal acolytes tried to spin it as innocuous, anyone who ever held a security clearance would go pale upon hearing what she had done.

Then there was the compelling evidence of the former Secretary of State’s quid pro quo influence peddling – favorable Department decisions and contracts linked to cash for contributions to the Clinton Foundation, which was essentially just a slush fund that subsidized the ex-president and his wife’s lavish lifestyle. And, of course, there was obstruction of justice – Clinton’s brazen attempted destruction of over 30,000 emails. She might as well have wiped them with a cloth because the skilled FBI technicians were able to recover most of them – and what they found was damning.

Well, it would be damning for anyone else. Even at that moment, there were ongoing prosecutions brought with a fraction of the evidence his dozens of agents had assembled against Clinton. At that moment, people were serving sentences for doing less with less sensitive material. And if some company under investigation had destroyed thousands of emails it had the legal obligation to maintain, the CEO would already be sweating out shower time in a federal prison.

But that briefing was weeks ago and since then there had been nothing from Justice – not a word. In any other case, the grand jury would have been empaneled and the indictments already issued. Here, no one had even pulled Clinton’s security clearance. And now the rumor was that Loretta Lynch had decided not prosecute, and that after her election Barack Obama would pardon the President-elect “for the good of the country.”

It was clear that the law was, once again, not going to apply to Hillary Clinton. Now Director Comey had to decide what he was going to do about it. Would he go along quietly with something every fiber of his being told him was a great wrong, or would he make a public stand and keep his integrity?

Comey tried to stay out of politics, but that didn't mean he was unaware of them. If he was to go public after resigning in protest not even the mainstream media that was backing Clinton could mitigate the damage. His public act of conscience could very well hand office to Donald Trump, a man someone with integrity like Director Comey could only loathe. The justice system shouldn't determine an election, but then justice had to be blind, didn't it? Was there to be one rule of law for all Americans, or a special rule of law for the important and connected?

Comey could go along. He knew that's what President Obama wanted. Oh, the President was far too clever to pick up the phone and tell his minions at the DoJ not to indict. He didn't have to. They knew, and they would do it without his fingerprints on it. And if Comey played along he'd be richly rewarded. Unctuous functionaries had hinted as much. “You have a great future, Director. I’m sure once you leave public service, you’ll have many, many, many opportunities.”

But if he stood up for the law, they would destroy him. Comey had no illusions about the price to be paid for crossing the Clinton machine. Ken Starr, another man of integrity, had done it 20 years ago and to this day remains exiled from elite society. The Clintons and their media minions would mercilessly slander Comey and his family, tearing down his career of public service and integrity. He would be a pariah.

There was something the Mexican drug cartels say when they try to corrupt government officials, Comey reflected. Plata o plumo. Silver or lead.

“What will you do, sir?” asked the Deputy Director. Comey gestured to the door.

Now alone, Comey stared out his window, and his eyes settled on the tip of the Washington Monument piercing the skyline of the city named in the first president’s honor. There was no question what George Washington would do, the Director mused. He sighed, stepped back toward his desk and picked up the phone.

Then, they have to make sure every I is dotted and every t crossed.

I posted almost exactly this phrase a few days ago.

But, my rationale was that Comey had to be sure his case was airtight, due to Clinton's position.

I hadn't thought about what you wrote:

I think they have to keep investigating until they run down every crime Hillary has committed.

Now, I think you hit the nail right on the head. When the FBI got the entire email archive (or server backup?) from Clinton's lawyer, it was the equivalent of opening Pandora's box.

Every one of those emails containing classified information is evidence of a crime. So, they have to follow it back to the source. Those "interviews" won't be announced in the media.

Then, they have to follow every one of them to any destination OUTSIDE Clinton's server, and determine the final disposition of the information -- compiling the names of every person that received it and compare the classification level against their clearance. Due to the nature of email, this is potentially an exponential level of effort.

And, we haven't yet considered the estimated 30,000 emails that were DELETED. Every one of those deletions is a potential crime even if it's not evidence of wrongdoing: if it is any official business, it was evasion of the FOIA.

If it's evidence of any criminal or civil offense, then the FBI can start with obstruction of justice and build on that. If there is any hint of bribery or washing money through the Clinton foundation, it opens a whole new front for inquiry, and an entirely new set of FBI agents.

Finally, there's another aspect that I don't think anyone has written about: who else used clintonemail.com? Was it just Hillary, Bill, and a few staff members? Or, was it also used by some/all employees of the Clinton Foundation?

I suspect the email/server backup retained by Clinton's lawyer contained more than Hillary's emails. There is likely an entire trove of messages for the FBI to examine, including messages between people other than Hillary.

The FBI may need "probable cause" to look at those, but all it will take is one questionable email between Hillary and another person with an account on that server, and they'll widen the net. And then, they'll start looking at every email that person exchanged, and they'll have a whole net set of interviews to conduct.

The FBI may have found itself "going down the rabbit hole". I don't know how far they will go before they decide whether to recommend charges against Hillary. But, she may only be the tip of the iceberg. ALL of Clinton's cronies may be under FBI scrutiny, and they are probably sweating bullets.

If that's the case, there are a lot of people that have a vested interest in Hillary's election, because it's the only way she can shut down the investigation. Perhaps the FBI wants to charge any co-conspirators before they get protected.

The Democratic party believes that because Hillary is a woman they will win a huge percentage of the woman vote. They may be right, but, I think they will loose a substantial portion of the black vote, all the Asian vote and more than 50% of independents who normally lean left.

Americans that have been here their whole lives mostly love the country and will not vote for someone to tear it up and break laws that everyone else has to obey.

It will be hard enough for Trump to get religious peoples vote. Trump is apparently not religious but Clinton is anti-religion.

I'm not sure my logic at prognosticating elections is very valuable any more. I was one who believed that Bill Clinton was done after the first term because of the Blue dress stains.

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