Politics –
FBI Says Clinton Charges A ‘No Go’
The FBI has ruled that no charges will be filed against Hillary Clinton for using a personal email server during her time as secretary of state — and the Clinton campaign breathed a huge sigh of relief!
Politics
Although FBI Director James Comey announced Tuesday that he would not recommend charges against Hillary Clinton, he did deliver a rather scathing tongue-lashing to the former secretary of state and her aides.
In an unprecedented rebuke, Comey verbally scolded Mrs. Clinton for being “extremely careless” in the handling of classified information and said she should have known better than to conduct sensitive government business via an unclassified email system.
“Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information,” Comey said, “there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.” He added: “Our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case,” effectively removing any possible threat of prosecution in the middle of Clinton’s campaign for president.
Mrs. Clinton may have avoided legal and criminal charges, but she will almost certainly pay a political price. Director Comey’s critique has offered Donald Trump a treasure trove of ammunition to use against her character, honesty and trustworthiness.
Naturally, Trump was quick to chime in via Twitter to berate Mrs. Clinton and to challenge the FBI’s decision.
“The system is rigged. … Very very unfair! As usual, bad judgment,” Trump tweeted. He then issued a statement claiming that U.S. “adversaries almost certainly have a blackmail file on Hillary Clinton,” which he believes “disqualifies” her from the presidency.
“Whats going on is very big … for Bill Clinton to go to the plane [to meet Attorney General Loretta Lynch], then to have what happened … Everybody thought based on what was being said she was guilty. She was guilty. And it turned out that, ‘We’re not going to press charges.’ It’s really amazing,” Trump said during a North Carolina rally.
Trump’s Republican cronies finally found a common ground and joined him in a rare chorus of agreement.
“No one should be above the law,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement. “But based upon the director’s own statement, it appears damage is being done to the rule of law. Declining to prosecute Secretary Clinton for recklessly mishandling and transmitting national security information will set a terrible precedent.”
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus also blasted the FBI decision.
“I certainly don’t understand how you describe a textbook definition of gross negligence, and you have case after case after case of soldiers and other military personnel being kicked out of the military … for things that are far less egregious than what Hillary Clinton did,” Priebus said.
Politics
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton was traveling on Air Force One to North Carolina, where she enjoyed her first joint campaign appearance with President Obama.
“I came away from that primary admiring her even more because during that year-and-a-half, I had a chance to see up close, just how smart she was and just how prepared she was, especially since I debated her a couple dozen times,” Mr. Obama eagerly said of Mrs. Clinton. “I saw how even when things didn’t go her way, she’d just stand up straighter and come back stronger.”
“I know the other guy talks about making America great again. America’s really great,” the president added. “This is a choice between whether we are going to cling to some imaginary past or whether we’re going to reach for the future.”
Hillary Clinton then returned the accolades.
“I feel very privileged because I’ve known the President in many roles. As a colleague in the Senate, as an opponent in a hard-fought primary, and the President I was so proud to serve as secretary of state,” Mrs. Clinton said of her one-time boss. “I also know him as the friend that I was honored to stand with in the good times and the hard times. Someone who has never forgotten where he came from.”
As for Director Comey, the question of emails is a done deal.
“This investigation was done honestly, competently and independently. No outside influence of any kind was brought to bear,” Comey said. “Opinions are irrelevant. … We did our investigation the right way. Only facts matter, and the FBI found them here in an entirely apolitical and professional way.”
The Justice Department is expected to accept Comey’s recommendations and effectively put an end to any discussion of prosecuting Hillary Clinton over her emails.
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She dodged a bullet here. This could have gone either way. but Repubs are still going to try and make it a big deal. Let's see how she handles.