Posted on 07/05/2016 4:50:42 PM PDT by Kaslin
I may be alone in saying this, but when the proverbial dust settles, James Comey may have hurt Hillary Clinton more than he helped her in his statement Tuesday concerning the Grand Email Controversy. He may have let her off the hook legally, but personally he has left the putative Democratic candidate scarred almost beyond recognition.
By getting out in front of the Justice Department, the FBI director, speaking publicly in an admittedly unusual fashion, was able to frame the case in a manner that Attorney General Loretta Lynch in all probability never would have.
Read this portion of Comey's transcript and ask yourself how this person (Clinton) could ever serve successfully as president of the United States:
Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case. Prosecutors necessarily weigh a number of factors before bringing charges. There are obvious considerations, like the strength of the evidence, especially regarding intent. Responsible decisions also consider the context of a person’s actions, and how similar situations have been handled in the past.
In looking back at our investigations into mishandling or removal of classified information, we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts. All the cases prosecuted involved some combination of: clearly intentional and willful mishandling of classified information; or vast quantities of materials exposed in such a way as to support an inference of intentional misconduct; or indications of disloyalty to the United States; or efforts to obstruct justice. We do not see those things here.
To be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions. But that is not what we are deciding now.
Look at that last paragraph again, because, if the Republicans have any brains at all, they will be quoting it ad infinitum. "To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions." What Comey is clearly saying (and leaving for us to "decide now") is that--whether you agree with his decision not to indict or no (I don't)—in a normal, real-world situation Clinton would face consequences, quite probably be demoted or even fired, certainly not promoted to the presidency of the United States, for what she did.
Which brings me back to why Comey made this speech.
Yes, I suppose he owed it to the public, as he indicated. But I wonder if the greater motivation was fear that Clinton would be completely exonerated, that she would skate away free once he passed the FBI decision on to the Justice Department. It's hard to imagine Lynch speaking in public about how Clinton and her aides were "extremely careless" about national security, obvious though that was, or the high probability that the Clinton's server, not to mention her cell phone (!), was hacked by foreign powers. There were also several new revelations, such as the surprising fact that there were actually multiple personal servers, not just one. This was prevarication of a high and deliberate order. (Remember how Hillary claimed Powell and Rice did the same thing? What complete and utter horse hockey.) And that her lawyers never actually read her emails before deleting them, relying on the subject lines (how to keep yourself out of trouble).
The proximity of Comey's statement to the Bill Clinton/Loretta Lynch meeting on Lynch's plane should also be noted and is potential grist for the mill for historians in the years to come.
My purpose here is not to exonerate Comey. In all probability he was a more than a bit of a coward, looking for a way out. But that way out may prove to have powerful ramifications. A Hillary indictment, in all likelihood, would have meant a new and more scandal-free Democratic candidate, a Joe Biden perhaps, far more potent than the seriously wounded Clinton who now has even more explaining to do. It's an endless case of be-careful-what-you-wish-for. And if we are to believe Judicial Watch (and I do), it's only just begun:
FBI Director James Comey detailed Hillary Clinton’s massive destruction of government records and grossly negligent handling of classified information. Frankly, there’s a disconnect between Comey’s devastating findings and his weak recommendation not to prosecute Hillary Clinton. Federal prosecutors, independent of politics, need to consider whether to pursue the potential violations of law confirmed by the FBI.
Whatever two sets of neurons might be required, should they so decide on their own or be directed by their putative owner, to hold those thoughts and make that connection, are not present in the people who are her supporters. They don’t care. She won this one, she’ll win that one.
How’s that?
Comey’s comments make it impossible for Lynch to take this to a Grand Jury to torpedo the case and to bury the facts of the case using Grand Jury secrecy provisions
Instead, he gave a public confirmation of much of the damning evidence along with an inventory of what they found and basically told the world that the the FBI investigation was at an end , which prevents the Clintons and the Obama Admin from using their favorite, “we can't comment because there is an ongoing investigation.”
Based on Comey’s comments and legal analysis (if true) , there's absolutely no reason what the entire FBI Clinton email investigative files cannot be be released under FOIA in their entirety to show just how "innocent and inconsequential" the whole email debacle was. In fact, given the circumstances with Obama interference and the Bill Clinton/Loretta Lynch air plane meeting, it is incumbent upon the FBI to release the investigation information to the public in order to clear up the inevitable and legitimate concerns that the fix is in and the FBI threw the case against Hillary.
what ever happened to the clinton foundation angle, i wonder...
:-(
This bull crap is getting too deep to even walk through. Wake me when the shooting starts. You certainly don’t want to wait until the Russian and Chinese nukes go off. She cannot be President. It cannot be allowed. She is a criminal politician who would just disappear one day in China or Russia.
Post #17 :
Good post.
“..Its all up to Trump now...”
~ Yes it is. Comey committed high hypocrisy by eloquently stating the contents of what should have been the description of her indictment, then state she was not going to be indicted. Just wreaks of Obama, Billary, and their puppet DOJ.
The people need to get behind Trump in a big way. He is all we have, along with a horribly corrupt and criminal justice system. ~
True. Trump will use this to his advantage, and with God’s help will emerge victorious to pursue further REAL investigations against the Clinton Foundation and with REAL consequences for all the players involved ~ including the RINO’S...
The more important point is Big Media is reporting that she has been found not guilty. And the masses always read/hear Big Media only. AND THEY BELIEVE. Big Media should be subjected to paying for in-kind donations benefitting Hillary only.
Comey’s “way out” is like that of Chief Justice Roberts when he said that “Obamacare” had a “tax” and was therefore Constitutional (or words to that effect). He may have realized that he was screwing up the Supreme Court case against Obamacare and thus giving Congress a way to correct it, but the damage was done.
Comey was always a “weak sister” and our Constitutional system is badly damaged because of it, regardless of his intentions.
However, former Virginia Gov. McDonnell can now say that the case against him for accepting political gifts was always a false one. (Basically it was but the Left tried to make “hay” out of it, a very politically biased indictment by the Democrat legal fascists).
ALso, the government official Hillary fired from the State Department for mishandling classified material, can now apply for full reinstatement and rank, plus back wages and benefits. He did LESS than Hillary did but was punished for it.
“All pigs are equal but some pigs are more equal than others”. = George Orwell in “Animal Farm”.
I’ve worked with FBI agents and found them to be decent men who put their lives on the line to protect our country. Today, I wouldn’t trust any FBI leader to protect my cats.
Comey and Freeh were both weak (Freeh had great praise for his communist law professor at Rutgers, Arthur Kinoy, while noting his leftism. Kinoy was much more than that, and if Freeh didn’t look up his file when he was in the FBI, then he was totally incompetent because he had been “had”).
J. Edgar Hoover is looking like a f**king genius to me despite his warts. He knew who the enemy was and went after them. Today, we don’t want to know who the enemy is because it is upsetting.
Hillary, Bill Clinton and Obama are the enemy. PERIOD. If we don’t recognize that simple fact, then we are doomed because the American people have been deliberately dumbed down to the point that they are no longer interested or even able to recognize the truth.
Are you kidding Roger???
The democrats gave a standing ovation to William Jefferson, D-LA, after he was caught red handed with bribe money in his freezer post Hurricane Katrina. Ted Kennedy was the “Lion of the Senate” and he killed a woman. Bill Clinton in a disgraced philanderer, impeached president, and disbarred lawyer.
Breaking the law, and getting away with it, is one of the top achievements you can have in the democrat party. Obama’s entire presidency hasn’t been how to follow the law. It’s how much you can break it without getting caught. Just like Eric Holder “I have investigated myself and found no evidence of wrong doing. “
Comey did what any useful idiot would do... he protected his master(s). BTW, I love how so many pundits are SILL saying how honest and above reproach he is. Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.
OOPS! ~ post #18 ~
‘scuse me...
-—PS: the Clinton Foundation is still ongoing. That is real malfeasance!-—
I’m hoping/thinking this might be Comey endgame...
Let the little fish get away to catch the big fish
...
Can you believe we've been dealing with Clinton BullMitt and criminality for more than 20 years?
He certainly handed Trump a treasure trove of material for election ads.
The press monkeys will simply announce loudly that she was exonerated.
This is what they did with Trey Gowdy’s report. His report is really quite damning. But the press simply demanded “is there anything *new* here to show she did anything wrong...” which then became “there is nothing *new* here to prove she did anything wrong” which then became “the report exonerates her”.
This is Benghazi deja vous. Comey talked, Hillary walked. What difference does it make. Hillary says the matter has been resolved.
he didn’t exonerate her.
We’ll see. I wasn’t talking about democrats. The polls are showing that the “competent”, “steady hand” argument was attracting many republicans who are nervous about Trump.
Her reckless behavior might give the nevertrumpers second thoughts. Trump already leads among independents by double digits. If he can unify the republican base, he wins easily.
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