“So, You Think You’re Out of the Woods, Hillary?” … Hmmmm … Not so Fast…
Hillary Clinton, and more importantly her surrogates, will again and again, repeat and repeat the mantra that “it’s time to move on,” because there are no criminal charges being filed against her, regarding the FBI’s e-mail server(s) investigation. They will no doubt do this, with all of the joyous enthusiasm akin to old people whistling as they pass the graveyard, and/or convicts whistling as they pass the gallows.
Hold on, sports fans…
What we do know is that FBI Director James Comey decided to recommend to the Justice Department that they not proceed with filing a criminal indictment against Mrs. Clinton, following his bureau’s investigation of the Clinton’s illegal use of private e-mail servers while she was Secretary of State. Despite the fact that he outlined several instances where Hillary Clinton in fact violated U.S. Criminal Code Chapter 18: §793 (f), which does not require the stipulation of intent, he made his decision based upon his finding that “she didn’t intend to do harm.” In other words, after a lengthy and detailed objective review of all of the ways Hillary Clinton clearly violated the law, he arrived upon a subjective conclusion that she didn’t “intend to break the law,” all the while insisting that the former Secretary of State was being treated like anyone else under the same circumstances.
Hmmmm.
As promised, his boss Attorney General Loretta Lynch, wasted no time in formally announcing that the investigation is over.
Comey appeared before the House Oversight Committee on Thursday to explain his convoluted and consternated reasoning, and confirmed the divergent, discombobulated path he strode to arrive at this conclusion. Predictably, the Republican members on the Committee did the best they could to inquire as to his reasoning, while Democrats used their time to make speeches accusing the Republicans of impugning Comey’s reputation (they didn’t) and conducting a partisan witch hunt of their own creation (it was Hillary’s), and when they weren’t doing this, they spent their time deflecting the inquiry to off-topic discussions of issues completely unrelated to the subject at hand, and even…bashing Donald Trump.
And yet…
It seems to be the case, nevertheless, that what was not said at the hearing means that Hillary Clinton is, by no means, out of the woods…no, not by a long shot…not yet.
When asked about the investigation into the Clinton Foundation, Comey refused to comment (suggesting that that investigation is ongoing).
When asked about the e-mail situation as it relates to the Clinton Foundation, still “no comment” (suggesting that that investigation is still ongoing).
When asked whether or not Hillary committed multiple counts of perjury in her testimony last fall to the Benghazi Committee, Comey said that “this wasn’t part of his bureau’s investigation.”
When asked why it wasn’t, he said that it “wasn’t part of the referral” he received from the State Department’s Inspector General.
When asked if he would need such a referral to pursue such an investigation, he said, “Yes, I would.”
On that point, Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) promised he would be getting the said referral “within a few hours.” We’ll see if this happens.
In a forty-five second back and forth with Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), who chaired last fall’s Benghazi committee, the Director admitted that Clinton’s oft-repeated statements that she never transmitted nor received classified e-mails (she did), that none of the e-mails in question were marked classified (they were), that she only used a single device (she used many), that she turned over all of the subpoenaed e-mails (she didn’t), and that her own private server was secure (it wasn’t), were all false- essentially confirming that Hillary Clinton has lied on countless occasions to the American people- in debates, in her campaign appearances, and in her sworn testimony before Congress.
We also learned that Hillary Clinton granted access to her e-mails, including classified, top-secret e-mails to her attorneys- attorneys who were not authorized to view classified e-mails. It was these attorneys who deleted 33,000 e-mails at her behest.
We also learned that the director himself was not present when Hillary Clinton was interviewed by five FBI agents on Saturday, July 2nd. We learned that the interview was not under oath, and that the question was never asked of Mrs. Clinton if she ever lied about anything related to the investigation. We also learned that she was never asked why she set up the server(s) in the first place, she was never asked whether or not she knowingly sent or received classified e-mails, and she was never asked about why her lawyers deleted 33,000 e-mails. On several occasions, Director Comey couldn’t recall precisely what questions were asked, and only promised to release “what he could” of the notes taken at this interview.
In other words, five FBI agents spent three and one half hours interviewing Hillary Clinton, during which no recordings of the interview took place, and that Director Comey hadn’t spoken with these five agents prior to announcing on Tuesday that it was his considered opinion that “no prosecutor in their right mind” would pursue a criminal referral into Mrs. Clinton’s violation of U.S. Criminal Code Chapter 18: §793 (f), so in essence the FBI Director took it upon himself to make the final determination, based on nothing more than his own gut feeling.
All of which leads us to wonder whether or not Saturday’s interview with Mrs. Clinton was more of a courtesy summary briefing than an investigative interrogatory.
Add this to the pending criminal referral of perjury against Mrs. Clinton’s testimony at the Benghazi hearing last fall, the continuing investigation into influence peddling at the Clinton Foundation, and it is easy to see that her legal troubles haven’t quite left her side, and that her political problems have barely gotten started in this election year- a year in which there is broad skepticism and derision being spewed at “insiders,” of which she appears to be the ultimate insider.
Advantage, Trump.
-Drew Nickell, 7 July 2016
© 2016 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.