Hillary Clinton: Too Big to Jail

 

Hillary ClintonAmerica is a banana republic, but without bananas — only the peels.

When FBI Director James Comey announced Tuesday morning that he won’t pursue criminal charges against Hillary Clinton’s “extremely careless” handling of classified emails, he reinforced a truth most Americans feel in their bones. Well connected Americans are no longer subject to the laws of the land and can do however they please.

John Adams called for “a government of laws, and not of men,” but today’s decision has officially reversed this quaint republican ideal. Hillary Clinton can repeatedly compromise national security and aggressively cover it up, yet still be cleared of any legal repercussions in a live press conference.

Traitor Edward Snowden is hiding out in Russia for compromising state secrets. Democratic nominee Hillary is favored to be our next President. Chelsea Manning is three years into a 35-year prison sentence for leaking classified government documents. Hillary Clinton is holding campaign rallies with Barack Obama. Petty Officer 1st Class Kristian Saucier is awaiting a sentence of up to 30 years for taking a few snapshots on a US Navy sub. Hillary is choosing furniture for the Oval Office.

When I was a student in the Navy Nuclear Power Program, one of my classmates decided to take a couple basic engineering textbooks to his off-base house to study. Since they were related to a sensitive military program, the books were marked “confidential,” the lowest classification level available. Once the violation was discovered, he saw his home raided, was immediately removed from the program, tossed into the brig, and prosecuted. Mishandling classified material is a deadly serious matter, even if the material focuses on diodes and resistors instead of troop movements and intelligence gathering. Or at least it used to be.

The AP fact-checked Comey’s endorsement of the Clinton cover-up and the results are downright ugly.

CLINTON: “I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material.” News conference, March 2015.

THE FACTS: Actually, the FBI identified at least 113 emails that passed through Clinton’s server and contained materials that were classified at the time they were sent, including some that were Top Secret and referred to a highly classified special access program, Comey said….

CLINTON: “I never received nor sent any material that was marked classified.” NBC interview, July 2016.

THE FACTS: Clinton has separately clung to her rationale that there were no classification markings on her emails that would have warned her and others not to transmit the sensitive material. But the private system did, in fact, handle emails that bore markings indicating they contained classified information, Comey said….

CLINTON: “I responded right away and provided all my emails that could possibly be work related” to the State Department. News conference, March 2015.

THE FACTS: Not so, the FBI found….

CLINTON: “I thought it would be easier to carry just one device for my work and for personal emails instead of two.” News conference, March 2015.

THE FACTS: This reasoning for using private email both for public business and private correspondence didn’t hold up in the investigation. Clinton “used numerous mobile devices to view and send email” using her personal account, Comey said. He also said Clinton had used different servers.

CLINTON: “It was on property guarded by the Secret Service, and there were no security breaches. … The use of that server, which started with my husband, certainly proved to be effective and secure.” News conference, March 2015.

CLINTON campaign website: “There is no evidence there was ever a breach.”

THE FACTS: The campaign website claimed “no evidence” of a breach, a less categorical statement than Clinton herself made last year, when she said there was no breach. The FBI did not uncover a breach but made clear that that possibility cannot be ruled out.

“We assess it is possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton’s personal email account,” Comey said….

CLINTON: “I opted for convenience to use my personal email account, which was allowed by the State Department.” News conference, March 2015.

THE FACTS: Comey did not address Clinton’s reason for using a private server instead of a government one, but he highlighted the perils in routing sensitive information through a home server.

In other words, Comey repeatedly noted that Hillary violated the rules and covered it up, yet he still won’t recommend prosecution. But to ensure that mere American citizens don’t get any ideas, he added the following:

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.

A government of men, and not of laws.

Published in Law
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  1. Chris Campion Coolidge
    Chris Campion
    @ChrisCampion

    The King Prawn:FB_IMG_1467765317568

    Best.  Post.  Ever.

    • #31
  2. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Jimmy Carter:Come on, We all know that the only crime the mob gets cinvicted of is tax evation.

    I can dream.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #32
  3. Lily Bart Inactive
    Lily Bart
    @LilyBart

    In a sane world, this woman should never again be allowed to hold a security clearance.  She’s proven untrustworthy with sensitive information.

    • #33
  4. Mark Meed Inactive
    Mark Meed
    @MarkMeed

    Others (Like Philly talk-show host Rich Zeoli) have had a different take.

    The thesis, briefly, was that Comey made the case for Hillary’s indictment but did not recommend criminal charges in full knowledge the Obama DOJ would likely pursue a misdemeanor charge and give it to the B-team to slow-walk and/or settle. Double-jeopardy would then prevent her from being charged again in future.

    In NOT recommending charges BUT laying out the case Comey materially damaged her politically and opened the door for criminal charges by a future administration.

    This may amount to making lemonade, and I’m certainly not sold, but it talked me off the ledge for 24 hours and that’s enough.

    • #34
  5. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    The rule of law is dead. Obama’s transformation is complete. Welcome to BananAmerica.

    • #35
  6. Suspira Member
    Suspira
    @Suspira

    Why, oh, why did the GOP pass on a slate of good candidates in favor of a clown? She was so beatable before today. Now with the evidence of her unfitness for office made official, Anybody-But-Trump would have won in a landslide. What an absurd way for freedom to die.

    • #36
  7. Muleskinner Member
    Muleskinner
    @Muleskinner

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Mishandling classified material is a deadly serious matter, even if the material focuses on diodes and resistors instead of troop movements and intelligence gathering. Or at least it used to be.

    I’m still trying to wrap my head around how Ms Hillary was able to give access to her email (containing classified information) for her attorneys to sort. Comey really breezed past that when he decided that it was ok, because they didn’t read them beyond the headers.

    A long time ago I had a security clearance, and once found myself in possession of classified material on a Saturday night. The UPS man delivered it to the plant where I was working, and once I realized that the package contained confidential material, I was stuck. I didn’t have access to the secure area, and had to keep the package in my possession, and on premises, until I could contact someone with proper clearance to receive the package. I was about as low-level as you could get, and still knew that I couldn’t give it to the security guard, or anyone else, who didn’t have clearance, or lock it in an office and leave, because there was a chain of custody that had to be maintained.

    Oops, “low-level,” answered my own question.

    • #37
  8. David Foster Member
    David Foster
    @DavidFoster

    I’m seeing memes circulated on FB…by people I know to be very intelligent, at least in a professional sense…the the effect that “if they’d indicted Hillary they would have had to indict the other 5 former Secretaries of State who did the same thing.”

    I’m sure that if I had an hour or so to work on it, I could put together a devastating response, complete with definitive links.  But if ‘our side’ was any good at political marketing, we would have organizations in place to detect inaccurate/fraudulent memes being circulated by the opposition and provide well-packaged responses for use on FB and elsewhere.

    • #38
  9. Frozen Chosen Inactive
    Frozen Chosen
    @FrozenChosen

    You folks putting your faith in Trump are doomed. The guy’s not even trying!  He has no organization, no money and he spent his presser today praising Saddam Hussein!

    The only plausible explanation is that he’s in cahoots with the Clintons. Why else the total lack of effort?

    • #39
  10. Tenacious D Inactive
    Tenacious D
    @TenaciousD

    David Foster: I’m sure that if I had an hour or so to work on it, I could put together a devastating response, complete with definitive links. But if ‘our side’ was any good at political marketing, we would have organizations in place to detect inaccurate/fraudulent memes being circulated by the opposition and provide well-packaged responses for use on FB and elsewhere.

    David, it’s not a specific response to any other memes out there, but the folks at Reason.tv put together a Comey vs. Clinton supercut in short order this afternoon (my apologies if anyone else has shared this already):

    • #40
  11. No Caesar Thatcher
    No Caesar
    @NoCaesar

    David Foster:I’m seeing memes circulated on FB…by people I know to be very intelligent, at least in a professional sense…the the effect that “if they’d indicted Hillary they would have had to indict the other 5 former Secretaries of State who did the same thing.”

    I’m sure that if I had an hour or so to work on it, I could put together a devastating response, complete with definitive links. But if ‘our side’ was any good at political marketing, we would have organizations in place to detect inaccurate/fraudulent memes being circulated by the opposition and provide well-packaged responses for use on FB and elsewhere.

    Baring a good counter-meme, a short succinct response is best.  Something along the lines of: “That’s a bold-face lie and you know it.  But no surprise you shamelessly lie if you are for Hillary.” *mic drop*

    • #41
  12. Mark Coolidge
    Mark
    @GumbyMark

    Just heard the Clinton campaign is debuting a new slogan:

    Hillary’s the One!  She may be incredibly sloppy handling our Nation’s secrets, but she’s not a crook!

    • #42
  13. Mark Coolidge
    Mark
    @GumbyMark

    No Caesar:

    David Foster:I’m seeing memes circulated on FB…by people I know to be very intelligent, at least in a professional sense…the the effect that “if they’d indicted Hillary they would have had to indict the other 5 former Secretaries of State who did the same thing.”

    I’m sure that if I had an hour or so to work on it, I could put together a devastating response, complete with definitive links. But if ‘our side’ was any good at political marketing, we would have organizations in place to detect inaccurate/fraudulent memes being circulated by the opposition and provide well-packaged responses for use on FB and elsewhere.

    Baring a good counter-meme, a short succinct response is best. Something along the lines of: “That’s a bold-face lie and you know it. But no surprise you shamelessly lie if you are for Hillary.” *mic drop*

    The Inspector General report actually called that out as inaccurate.  I’d have to search for the specific cite.  If that were true, it would have figured prominently in Comey’s decision.  He made no mention of it.

    • #43
  14. Kate Braestrup Member
    Kate Braestrup
    @GrannyDude

    Morituri Te: I wonder what Comey would have done if the Republican candidate were leading in the polls right now?

    This is the question that occurred to me today. If the alternative to Hillary wasn’t Trump but was, instead, say Jeb! or Perry or somebody…would the FBI have been willing to be more aggressive? Seriously—as long as we’re thinking about conspiracies, might Trump seem so frightening an alternative that knocking Hillary out of the race with an indictment would seem too risky?

    • #44
  15. Mark Coolidge
    Mark
    @GumbyMark

    Kate Braestrup:

    Morituri Te: I wonder what Comey would have done if the Republican candidate were leading in the polls right now?

    This is the question that occurred to me today. If the alternative to Hillary wasn’t Trump but was, instead, say Jeb! or Perry or somebody…would the FBI have been willing to be more aggressive? Seriously—as long as we’re thinking about conspiracies, might Trump seem so frightening an alternative that knocking Hillary out of the race with an indictment would seem too risky?

    My prediction was that if she’d been knocked out, Biden would end up as the nominee and easily win.

    • #45
  16. Raxxalan Member
    Raxxalan
    @Raxxalan

    Frozen Chosen:You folks putting your faith in Trump are doomed. The guy’s not even trying! He has no organization, no money and he spent his presser today praising Saddam Hussein!

    The only plausible explanation is that he’s in cahoots with the Clintons. Why else the total lack of effort?

    I actually think this is fairly close to the mark.  Trump is not running a serious campaign.  If he were he would have already donated his own money to the attempt.  This is a publicity stunt of the first order.  That having been said. He is now the only thing standing between Clinton’s subversion of the government into a criminal enterprise.  It is painfully obvious from this that she is completely above the law and can not be checked by normal means, so Trump is the only hope of maintaining a semblance of constitutional order.  Admittedly he is a very thin and frail reed to place such hopes on; however, I don’t see another choice.

    • #46
  17. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Raxxalan:

    Frozen Chosen:You folks putting your faith in Trump are doomed. The guy’s not even trying! He has no organization, no money and he spent his presser today praising Saddam Hussein!

    The only plausible explanation is that he’s in cahoots with the Clintons. Why else the total lack of effort?

    I actually think this is fairly close to the mark. Trump is not running a serious campaign. If he were he would have already donated his own money to the attempt. This is a publicity stunt of the first order. That having been said. He is now the only thing standing between Clinton’s subversion of the government into a criminal enterprise. It is painfully obvious from this that she is completely above the law and can not be checked by normal means, so Trump is the only hope of maintaining a semblance of constitutional order. Admittedly he is a very thin and frail reed to place such hopes on; however, I don’t see another choice.

    And, so far, never Trumpers are giving us no viable alternative.

    • #47
  18. Blue State Blues Member
    Blue State Blues
    @BlueStateBlues

    Fake John/Jane Galt:I am confused that you folk did not see this coming. This is the country we live in and have been living in all our lives. Laws are interpreted, ignored and twisted for those in powers purposes. If they apply and how they are applied is entirely up to the whims of government employees and LEOs. The only difference between a cop and a crook is a badge, the only difference between a government employee and a crook is even less than that. You guys really need to take off the rose colored glasses and take in the reality of the world. Otherwise you are going to end up broke, unemployed, with no family and maybe in jail. Seriously you folk need to stop eating the blue pills and try some red ones and view reality for what it is. Welcome to the jungle.

    I agree.  This was 100% predictable.  In fact, I did predict it, 4 months ago.

    • #48
  19. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    nocrime

    Here is a screen snippet from the front page of the online WSJ tonight.  The headline here is different from the one on the article itself, but it’s often the case that the lying and spinning that the WSJ does for Hillary is in the front page headlines, while the articles themselves tend to be a little more factual.

    But I’m not positive in this case that it’s a lie.  I haven’t found any quote by Comey in which he actually said no crime was committed.  He said he wouldn’t prosecute, but I don’t think he went so far as to say there was no crime.

    Am I right?

    • #49
  20. Lily Bart Inactive
    Lily Bart
    @LilyBart

    Whitest. Privilege. Ever.   (seen on twitter)

    • #50
  21. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    The Reticulator:nocrime

    Here is a screen snippet from the front page of the online WSJ tonight. The headline here is different from the one on the article itself, but it’s often the case that the lying and spinning that the WSJ does for Hillary is in the front page headlines, while the articles themselves tend to be a little more factual.

    But I’m not positive in this case that it’s a lie. I haven’t found any quote by Comey in which he actually said no crime was committed. He said he wouldn’t prosecute, but I don’t think he went so far as to say there was no crime.

    Am I right?

    Ret.

    Yes, you are right. According to Former AG Mukasey, the statute of limitations hasn’t run out either. Comey didn’t say a word about Clinton Cash. His whole complaint is about the lack of intent. Clinton Cash would prove the intent.

    What if “new” evidence comes to light. Comey could hold another press conference and recommend indictment.

    Fmr AG Mukasey: Hillary Violated Felony Standard of ‘Gross Negligence,’ Others Have Been Prosecuted ‘For Far Less’

    It ain’t over yet.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #51
  22. Theodoric of Freiberg Inactive
    Theodoric of Freiberg
    @TheodoricofFreiberg

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Well connected Americans are no longer subject to the laws of the land and can do however they please.

    It’s not “well-connected Americans” who are above the law. It’s “well-connected liberal Americans.”

    • #52
  23. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Theodoric of Freiberg:

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Well connected Americans are no longer subject to the laws of the land and can do however they please.

    It’s not “well-connected Americans” who are above the law. It’s “well-connected liberal Americans.”

    Theodoric,

    Yes, they should check their liberal privilege.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #53
  24. John Davey Member
    John Davey
    @JohnDavey

    Banana Republics typically export bananas. We *are* a banana republic, but our chief export is cronyism.

    • #54
  25. goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    MerryKate:The Federal Bureau of Investigation has done the impossible: they’ve convinced me to vote for Trump. I loathe the man, but his election is the only thing that will stop Hillary Clinton from being president. The Clintons may be able to buy and sell every branch of government, but they can’t buy my vote, and Hillary will not have it. Comey should be fired, if not arrested, for dereliction of duty.

    Thank you so much for helping to save this country from this dreadful woman.

    • #55
  26. goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    David Foster:I’m seeing memes circulated on FB…by people I know to be very intelligent, at least in a professional sense…the the effect that “if they’d indicted Hillary they would have had to indict the other 5 former Secretaries of State who did the same thing.”

    I’m sure that if I had an hour or so to work on it, I could put together a devastating response, complete with definitive links. But if ‘our side’ was any good at political marketing, we would have organizations in place to detect inaccurate/fraudulent memes being circulated by the opposition and provide well-packaged responses for use on FB and elsewhere.

    I don’t believe it

    • #56
  27. Brian Wolf Inactive
    Brian Wolf
    @BrianWolf

    Jon GabreilA government of men, and not of men

    A sad and disgusting day.  With the Supreme Court writing new amendments in the Constitution with no authority, the Administration making up law as the go along and human rights statutes constantly open to interpretation, and the Supreme Court sanctioning these actions why did we think only the FBI would follow the law?  No one in America will now follow the law if they are powerful enough and strong enough to ignore it.

    Can you even begin to imagine what Hillary or a Trump will do with this kind of power were no law applies?  I think we are really endanger of losing the whole Republic.

    • #57
  28. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    scooter

    It is a part of the factual record. Hillary intentionally lied. Multiple times. Scooter misremembered once.

    Compare and contrast.

    • #58
  29. ctlaw Coolidge
    ctlaw
    @ctlaw

    With Clintons, every phrase is crafted, often to impart a false meaning and often having some thing to then hang deniability on. Anytime the wording seems strange, it’s a giveaway.

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: CLINTON: “I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material.” News conference, March 2015.

    Just these two sentences contain at least 4 issues.

    First is the “I”. Other people had accounts on the server. Is she admitting she directed them to send such material? Did she direct others to use her account? Related is the “my email”.

    Second is “send”. That’s not the issue. Did she direct anyone to send such material (e.g., from a state.gov account) so that material was received by the server(s)?

    Third is “classified”. What about “sensitive” or so-called “NoForn”? What about the records preservation requirement even for utterly unrestricted info.

    Fourth, “There is no…” There was, but she thinks she destroyed it all. As her husband defended his lies, “It depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is.”

    • #59
  30. livingthehighlife Inactive
    livingthehighlife
    @livingthehighlife

    James Gawron:What if “new” evidence comes to light. Comey could hold another press conference and recommend indictment.

    Fmr AG Mukasey: Hillary Violated Felony Standard of ‘Gross Negligence,’ Others Have Been Prosecuted ‘For Far Less’

    It ain’t over yet.

    It’s over.  If Comey believed there was additional information that could change his mind, he shouldn’t have made the announcement yesterday.  By doing so he indicated, in my opinion, there’s no intent to investigate Hillary any further.

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.:But to ensure that mere American citizens don’t get any ideas, he added the following:

    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.

    This is an amazing admission by Comey that she broke the law, but for whatever reason is protected against indictment.

    As I said in another comment, yesterday cemented the fact there are two classes of citizens:  everyday Americans, and the protected political class.  I’m not sure what will change this fact, but it won’t be pretty.

    • #60
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