FBI’s Comey indicts Clinton character, competence, by James Robbins.
Hillary Clinton got her wish that the FBI would not recommend criminal charges for her homebrew email setup. Now she will suffer the consequences.
On Tuesday, FBI Director James Comey announced that 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.” He cited “a number of factors” in reaching this decision, beyond the possibly criminal acts.
So Hillary skates? Not hardly. In fact, this could be the worst outcome possible.
The public can hear how dishonest and incompetent she is, without it been palmed off to the courts:
Had a recommendation for indictment come down, it would not have slowed Hillary’s march to the nomination. Democrats have demonstrated they will support her no matter what. And had actual charges been filed, the process is so slow that she would probably not have faced significant court proceedings before the election. If the topic ever arose on the campaign trail, she would have said it was an ongoing process in the hands of her attorneys and declined to comment.
Instead she is left with an investigation that found her perilously incompetent, calling into question her fitness for office. Director Comey said she and her staff were “were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information” to which “hostile actors” might have been able to gain access. The FBI did find that “hostile actors gained access to the private commercial e-mail accounts of people with whom Secretary Clinton was in regular contact from her personal account.”
So in the view of the FBI, Hillary Clinton is a blundering fool who compromised national security but not a provable arch-criminal. This is not what the country needs in a president. “Dangerously negligent but never indicted” is an extremely low bar to set for the leadership of the free world. And it kills Hillary’s argument that she would be a highly skilled chief executive.
Clinton deserves intense criticism in the political arena, and I think it will be healthy for the public debate to go forward using the evidence the FBI generated and without the confusing static of a criminal proceeding.
No reasonable attorney general meets secretly with the husband of someone under investigation, by Glenn Reynolds.
Although [FBI Director James Comey] said that there was extreme “carelessness” in handling classified information, the lack of intent to violate the law precluded prosecution. That’s a bit of a surprise given that the Department of Justice is currently prosecuting Petty Officer First Class Kristian Saucier for a similar crime where no intent was involved.
This gives rise to suspicions, verging on certainty, that the law is different when your name is Clinton, that laws are for the “little people” and not those in charge. … [T]he sense that there’s no such thing as rule of law in today’s America is likely to be quite corrosive.
If Hillary can do this much damage to America’s fabric now, how much worse will things be with her in the White House?
Stephen Green: BREAKING: FBI finds John Wilkes Booth “extremely careless” in discharge of firearm.
