Monday, October 31, 2016

What Will FBI Director James Comey Do With His Clinton Email Milligan

President William Jefferson Clinton was notorious for Mulligans on the golf course. FBI Director Mulligan took a Mulligan Friday with the Clinton emails. We know he received blowback from the FBI agents and Justice Department lawyers who diligently investigated the Clinton emails before he exonerated Secretary Clinton. We know the daily drip of disclosures about the inadequacy of the FBI investigation further reinforces the view that a political fix was at work. FBI Director Comey publicly indicted secretary Clinton on July 5, all but saying she lied on several instances in her statements to the public. However, he refused to indict her, explaining there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Secretary Clinton or her staff for violations of the Espionage Act and closed the file, ignoring possible conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges. He said no evidence of intent was shown (The statute does need intent), but that she was “extremely careless” in handling confidential material. The prosecutorial determination is not in the jurisdiction of the FBI. The FBI can arrest, but not indict or prosecute. Those decisions are for the prosecutors, or the Attorney General herself, in the Department of Justice. How bad was the Clinton investigation once it went up the ladder? Attorney General Lynch met for an hour with President Bill Clinton on an airport tarmac five days before the perfunctory FBI interview with Secretary Clinton. She said they talked about golf, travel, and grandchildren – nothing about retaining her job in the Clinton Administration. The Attorney General has politicized the Department of Justice just as the earlier politicization of the IRS. The FBI interview with secretary Clinton was not under oath, was untaped Clinton aides Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson were granted limited immunity in exchange for turning over their laptops, with the FBI agreeing to subsequently destroy the laptops. The normal procedure would have been a grand jury investigation with a broad issuance of subpoenas. Director Comey fell on his sword for Attorney General Roberta Lynch and President Obama on July 5. He saved the partisan AG from making a blatantly political decision in the heat of the Presidential election. It would have been politically deadly if the President had to pardon Secretary Clinton prior to Election Day. He may still have to do so. The Deputy Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, did not recuse himself with a major conflict of interest. Terry McAuliffe’s PAC gave $452,000 to his wife’s, Dr. Jill Mcabe, unsuccessful race for a Virginia Senate seat. The Virginia Democratic Party, which he controlled, gave another $207,788 to her campaign. Hillary Clinton headlined a $500,000 fundraiser for Dr. McCabe. All that is perfectly legal. Mr. McCabe was Associate Deputy Director of the FBI at that time. He was promoted last February to Deputy Director, the number 2 in the FBI, and oversaw the Clinton Email investigation. He had a clear conflict of interest. Everyone seems to have ignored the classic maxim: “Not only must justice be done, it must appear to be done.” Director Comey could cloak himself in the credibility and image of the FBI to shield POTUS and the AG. The initial question is why? Three possible answers arise. The first is payback time. We know that Comey prostrated himself before the Obama Administration to get the FBI appointment. Remember the Godfather who asked for a favor to be returned sometime in the future? The chit was called in on the Clinton emails. The second theory is equally troublesome. It became clear early in the FBI investigation that President Obama used a pseudonym to privately communicate with Secretary Clinton through her private, unsecured server. In other words President Obama was equally complicit in the illegal activity. To indict Clinton would implicate the President. The third thesis is practical. You do not indict the President or a Presidential nominee unless you believe you can get a conviction. The odds that a jury in Washington, D.C. would convict a Clinton are exceedingly small. Take your pick Comey was feeling the heat afterwards. He would ignore the WikiLeaks disclosures. He would live with the internal and external blowback. He would let the politicized Department of Justice tamp down any investigation of the Clinton Foundation and the allegations of pay-to-play. He would ignore the inevitable leaks from disgruntled FBI agents. Then came the treasure trove of disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner’s emails along with those of his wife. Thousands and thousands of who knows what. Huma Abedin deleted nothing from her email; no BleachBit for Huma He could not ignore those, or he wished to reacquire a veneer of integrity. He realized that he had contributed to the politicization (or corruption n Donald Trump’s favorite accusation) of corruption in the Justice department and now the FBI. Perhaps he realizes that being further sucked into the muck of the Clintongate Swamp would not be good for his future. He is now receiving the standard Democratic slime attack. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, in his usual manner, is claiming the FBI may be in violation of the Hatch Act. Others are calling Comey’s act of sending the letter as unprofessional. The charge is based on the presupposition that the FBI and Justice Department will not act to interfere with the outcome of the Presidential Campaign. Yet, 4 days before the end of the 1992 Bush-Clinton campaign, a Special Prosecutor who answered to the Justice Department, indicted Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger and indicated President George H. W. Bush was involved in the Iranian Arms for Hostages deal. A judge later dropped the charges. President Clinton would probably have won anyway because President Bush ran a poor campaign, but the indictment cost him votes. . The Clintonisitas continue to spin and misinform. Everything goes back to Russian hacking to rig the United States election. We don’t know who hacked whom, but we now know that John Podesta’s server was compromised because Podesta and his staff fell for a phishing attack apparently from the Ukraine. No matter what the FBI does, or the election results, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will not be going to jail. President Obama will pardon her, if necessary. James Comey has his Mulligan. Will he find violations of the Espionage Act, perjury or obstruction of justice, and then do the right act of recommending indictments, or will he fall on his sword again, becoming a complete buffoon and further damaging the image of the FBI.

No comments: