The statement made by James Comey was very curious. He spent 13 minutes explaining why Hillary Clinton should be prosecuted and then spent 2 minutes saying he won’t recommend it. She is clearly guilty, but Comey decided not to recommend charges.
Very curious.
Careers have been lost for much less than than what Clinton did. Meet Stephen Kim:
For instance, last year, after a five-year standoff with federal prosecutors, Stephen Kim, a former State Department official, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Espionage Act when he discussed a classified report about North Korea with Fox News reporter James Rosen in 2009. Kim did not hand over a copy of the report — he just discussed it, and nothing else — and the report was subsequently described in court documents as a “nothing burger” in terms of its sensitivity. Kim is currently in prison on a 13-month sentence.
And look what’s likely to get Kristian Saucier 5-6 years in prison:
A Navy sailor entered a guilty plea Friday in a classified information mishandling case that critics charge illustrates a double standard between the treatment of low-ranking government employees and top officials like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and ex-CIA Director David Petraeus.
Prosecutors allege that Petty Officer First Class Kristian Saucier used a cellphone camera to take photos in the classified engine room of the nuclear submarine where he worked as a mechanic, the USS Alexandria, then destroyed a laptop, camera and memory card after learning he was under investigation.
Andy McCarthy writes that the FBI rewrote the law to save her ass:
There is no way of getting around this: According to Director James Comey (disclosure: a former colleague and longtime friend of mine), Hillary Clinton checked every box required for a felony violation of Section 793(f) of the federal penal code (Title 18): With lawful access to highly classified information she acted with gross negligence in removing and causing it to be removed it from its proper place of custody, and she transmitted it and caused it to be transmitted to others not authorized to have it, in patent violation of her trust. Director Comey even conceded that former Secretary Clinton was “extremely careless” and strongly suggested that her recklessness very likely led to communications (her own and those she corresponded with) being intercepted by foreign intelligence services. Yet, Director Comey recommended against prosecution of the law violations he clearly found on the ground that there was no intent to harm the United States.
In essence, in order to give Mrs. Clinton a pass, the FBI rewrote the statute, inserting an intent element that Congress did not require. The added intent element, moreover, makes no sense: The point of having a statute that criminalizes gross negligence is to underscore that government officials have a special obligation to safeguard national defense secrets; when they fail to carry out that obligation due to gross negligence, they are guilty of serious wrongdoing. The lack of intent to harm our country is irrelevant. People never intend the bad things that happen due to gross negligence.
Do read it all.
Comey has established a new legal defense- the “I didn’t mean to” defense. Scooter Libby went to prison for not remembering, although he didn’t mean not to remember. Yet Hillary not meaning to has saved her from prosecution. Comey described Clinton’s actions as “extremely careless.”
Comey’s conclusion, which he insisted no politician in the Obama administration was aware of in advance, amounted to a declaration that Clinton and her aides were ‘extremely careless’ with their handling of classified material, but their actions did not rise to the level of a prosecution.
‘None of these emails should have been on any kind of unclassified system,’ Comey said.
‘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.. Prosecutors necessarily weigh a number of factors before deciding whether to bring charges.’
If we left it there, the democrat defense is “Yes, she’s an idiot” and both incompetent and lacking in judgment. But we can’t do that. “Extremely careless” and “gross negligence” are interchangeable terms as far as the law is concerned.
Giuliani makes that case that when it comes to laws surrounding handling classified data, intent is irrelevant. “The definition of gross negligence under the law is extreme carelessness,” he said. The FBI “clearly found a direct violation of 18 United States code section 793 which does not require intent — it requires only gross negligence in the handling of anything relating to the national defense.”
“Gross negligence” meets the threshold for prosecution:
On Twitter, there’s been a lot of “the FBI didn’t find a malicious intent” pushback against criticism, but that statute expressly doesn’t require malicious intent for prosecution. It expressly states that “gross negligence” meets the standard for criminal prosecution, and Comey spent most of the presser making the case for gross negligence.
Then there’s this little legal principle: Ignorantia juris non excusat. Ignorance is not a valid excuse for violation of the law. If it were:
Comey’s got some explaining to do.
Despite Comey absolutely torching Clinton’s statements and making clear that she is a liar, Comey saved the worst part for last. It’s been said that the Clinton’s are above the law and Comey confirmed it.
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.
Whisey Tango Foxtrot?
The real question is how will Comey justify a two tiered system of law- one for the Clinton’s and one for everyone us? Yes, he’s got some ‘splainin’ to do.
UPDATE
Meet Bryan Nishimura
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.
Of course she will not be prosecuted, because if found guilty, she would lose her security clearance, and if she loses her clearance she cannot get a new one in the future.
@Pops:
She did mishandle classified information- “extremely carelessly.” There’s no way she should be able to retain her clearance.
Actually, the decision that no criminal charges should be recommended is entirely in accordance with the standards set in all similar past investigations involving the possible mishandling of classified information. It all comes down to the fact that there was no intentional mishandling, and nothing that meets the legal definition of gross negligence.
@Greg:
She met the threshold for prosecution. Intent is irrelevant. It should have gone to a grand jury.
@Greg:
People are frequently killed by others not meaning to kill them. “Didn’t mean to” is not a valid defense.
You can, and most likely will continue to assert that, but a lengthy investigation conducted by highly trained professionals has reached a different conclusion.
I see no indication that James Comey is cutting her any slack. He was actually highly critical of her use of a private server. I believe he was looking closely at all of the evidence and applying the letter of the law. Violation of the applicable laws concerning the mishandling of classified information do require that either intent or gross negligence be established. That’s clearly specified in the statutes. Anyone doubting that has only to read them.
The FBI had itself lost over 1000 laptops all of which contained classified information
No one was ever indicted for any of them because it was unintentional, a mistake.
Any punishment was done administratively
What do the Clintons have on comey that resulted in this establishment of a separate standard of the law for Hillary?
The law was clearly broken by Hillary, but for purely political reasons she is allowed to skate. The fact that Comey stated anyone else doing this would be prosecuted is stunning. Hillary had 800 classified emails in her illegal, unpritected server, according to these findings from the investigation. Not classified after the fact (that number was over 2000), but actually classified.
Clintin is an unindicted criminal. This is a gross miscarriage of justice.
@Greg: So, in your final analysis, she is innocent of crimes but incompetent in handling classified information. That’s some resume’.
Hey, let’s give her ALL the classified information! What could go wrong?
@John:
So, Hillary unintentionally set up a private, secret, unsecured server and put ALL State Department business on it, including 2200 emails that had classified information on them, 110 that were verified received and transmitted with classified information and 29 that were SO sensitive, the investigators did not have clearance to see them. Oh, yeah… that certainly sounds plausible. Maybe there is some medal or commendation we should award her?
Anyone that imagined Obama would turn a bind eye to the investigation and allow justice to be served, which would result in the Democrats losing the election and his legacy being viewed openly for the abject failure it really is would believe almost anything.
If the Democratic Party’s candidate wins the election, it will be largely because of who the Republican Party is offering as the alternative. But that fact, one that should be within their control, they don’t want to address.
@Greg: Greg, I have disagreed with you on many occasions but until now I respected your independence. You have sold your soul to the Devil with that comment that you know is not legally correct. Crap lawyers get away with it some times, but the time always comes when they are exposed as the sniveling sycophants that they are.
@Pete: Comey, a Repub., did what was best for his Party. Soundly castigated and let her continue a weakened nominee–Trump’s only chance. Joe or Bernie beats him and takes back Senate.
@Bill:
So the GOP Durectirvof the FBI is in on this as well as all the agents that helped with the investigation
Anybody else ?
The Pope?
Just how big is this conspiracy you see?
The Illuminati?
Opus Dei?
Where does it end?
@Richard Wheeler: @Richard Wheeler:
OMG??!!! The GOP is in on this conspiracy too!!!
I knew it !!
Regardless of Greg’s wishful thinking, there are no grounds for giving Hillary a pass…and this isn’t going away.
She broke the law. He said she did. It’s not up to him solely to enforce the law.
I already knew Trump won the election months ago, but this is absolutely crushing to the deluded out there who keep accusing Trump of doing what Obama has always done.
@Greg:
Yes, a court of law decides that. Hillary will be indited. Better stop the squawking now before you really look stupid.
@Nathan Blue:
Bookies are offering 4 1/2 to one odds
You Could do really well if Trump wins
Odds not quite as good on the electronic markets like the one University of Iowa runs
Hillary couldn’t be indicted she has proof that the moon landings were faked
@Disturber, #11:
I believe what I said in post #3 to be a completely factual statement. I didn’t make it up. It’s a point that FBI Director James B. Comey made himself today. Refer to the 5th paragraph from the bottom:
Several news program legal commentators have since confirmed that to be so. I haven’t heard anyone take issue with it who has provided a case example that demonstrates otherwise.
@Pete: It should be interesting to see if any of the intel agencies whose sources and collection methods were probably compromised from her law breaking weigh in on this. I imagine they are a little peeved.
The Bill Clinton meeting with the Attorney General now makes perfect sense. He didn’t have a brain tumor after all. The FBI is huge and Clinton has a million contacts. No one in Washington can keep a secret from the power elites — of either party. I believe that it was one of the worst kept secrets in Washington that the FBI investigation wasn’t going to end up with an indictment. That’s why none of the higher ups in the GOP food chain were beating the drums and why Bernie Sanders was basically crawling off to lick his wounds, instead of holding out in case of an indictment. It’s certainly why Obama felt supremely confident in pushing Sanders aside in a rush to endorse and support Clinton.
So here’s what Bill did — pure genius. He forced the ostensibly bone headed meeting on Lynch. She told the truth when she said the only things they talked about were grandchildren and small talk.
Then Clinton made sure that the meeting was leaked. Firestorm developed. The only two choices that Lynch had were to resign or to basically recuse herself. So she took herself out of the game entirely. This effectively ensured that the FBI would have the last word. No way was anyone in the DOJ going to overrule the Director of the FBI, absent support from the Attorney General, which couldn’t be forthcoming, because Bill Clinton had basically compromised her.
So Lynch dramatically announces that she’ll accept the recommendations of the career professionals. So we’ve got the FBI Director, a Republican appointed by a Republican, exonerating Hillary of all criminal charges. And no one with the stature to overrule him. So Lynch (the Obama appointee) isn’t the lightning rod for the fury. No one can say that the “fix” was in. It’s the freaking GOP FBI Director, himself, who made the call.
Mind numbingly brilliant. Totally legal. Slick, slick political move. Slick Willie, indeed. But just like a business slick Trump who avoids taxes and makes sales and declares strategic bankruptcies becomes a potential asset when he’s doing stuff like this on our behalf (so the argument goes), Slick Willie is only bad when he’s freelancing for his own interests. When he’s doing it on our behalf, it’s good for the country (so the argument goes).
Jimmy Carter was a saint, ethically speaking. But saints don’t necessarily make good politicians. And Slick Willie left office with a 70% approval rating, despite surviving the worst that the entire GOP nation could throw at him.
The Clintons are still the smartest politicians in the room. Hillary kept her emails away from prying eyes. And she’s the odds on favorite to be the first female POTUS. And Team Clinton may well end up being the second four term POTUS in American history.
It frees anyone else in government to establish their own private servers and transmit top secret information across them. Without fear of punishment.
@DrJohn: Clinton violated murky guidelines. She did so openly. She sent and received 60,000 emails from a private email address. Anyone could have and doubtless did forward that address to others. It’s totally different from the Petraeus case, where Petraeus was furtive and deceptive, in knowing violation of the law. Congress has the power to write laws. If the current laws regarding the use of non government email servers are inadequate, they should be changed.
Yes, Lynch made a dramatic concession; remember, the FBI only makes a recommendation, but why would admit she made a career ending violation of ethics, she would just admit to accepting the FBI’s recommendation (No Harm No Foul). True, on the surface, until reality settles in and Americans realizes the justice system and the Clinton organization is a criminal syndicate.
The FOIA will force the release of all emails and the erosion of faith and trust in our government and its institutions will gather momentum, but Leftists cheer the victory like mindless sports fans cheer a winning team or blacks cheering the ‘not guilty’ verdict of OJ or Muslims around the world cheering the collapse of the Towers. This so-called ‘victory’ will have repercussions for the country and a possible Clinton presidency. Obama skated for 7 years before he lost widespread public support and now every proposal or speech is sneered at by an unforgiving public. Clinton will begin her presidency mired hopelessly in a deficit by that same unforgiving public. The divorce will begin before the ceremony.
Yes, the soon to be discredited FBI Director, the disbarred Rhode’s Scholar, and his Lynch pin played America for an audience of fools and buffoons, but an audience doesn’t necessarily remain gullible, once they realize how the trick was played.
@Larry Weisenthal:
Gross negligence = extremely careless
This does not require intent.
@Greg: Actually, that is not true. I know many people who screwed up in handling classified information and they lost their clearances and were relegated to a less important job. They didn’t have any intent to betray the country either, but they were careless in handling the information. The presence is to remove the clearance at a minimum and pursue further actions up to and including prison time.
@Skookum: Have you looked at the trend line of the Obama approval ratings on Real Clear Politics over the past 6 months?
The GOP has been trying to take the Clintons down for 25 years by accusing them of criminal behavior. How about nominating a candidate who can actually beat them on the issues? Jeb Bush? Rubio? Kasich? You want to blame someone, blame the GOP hard core base who took over their own party, but who lack the strength to take over the entire country?
@Randy:
Yes mishandling classified info without intent is ALWAYS handled administratively The FBI currently has 1000 laptops containing classified info that are lost no one has ever been indicted
But now for the first time some think it should be criminal
@Skookum: Skook
You better take a look at Obama’s approval polls they are 300% higher than the GOP majority Congress
Pollsters are giving the Dens a 60% chance of taking the Senate
The GOP nominee today praised Saddam
He has before praised Putin
Do you think that makes him electable by Americans?
A good snapshot of where we stand.
http://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2016/07/04/you-owe-them-nothing–not-respect-not-loyalty-not-obedience-n2186865
@another vet, #30:
Bullshit, Mr. Schlichter. There are laws, there is a legal process, and you have just witnessed an example of those things in operation. You just don’t like the results of that process.
Yeah. Let’s look:
What you’ve got there is a deliberate act that could in no way have been viewed as or mistaken for a routine part of a job involving classified information, followed by acts that could reasonably be interpreted as nothing other than a willful effort to destroy evidence. It’s not like he was erasing personal emails.
@Greg: Hmmm…
Took photos = satellite photos, Top Secret Intel, names of agents, schedules.
Destroyed laptop = deleting State Department emails.
Sounds like Hillary was at least as guilty as Kristian.
Gosh, Greg, you make a pretty good case.
@Skookum: Does this mean that if we did not intend to break a law, we will not be prosecuted?
@Randy:
Randy
It means that if you mishandle classified information or other government property such as breaking a laptop that has been dropped. You will NOT be prosecuted for that in criminal court
Unless done deliberately with intent
You may/may not be punished administratively
@Randy: The precedent has been set for the public and government workers. Selling influence and scam foundations are wide open for con men and women who get elected. The sky is the limit. The American government is a corrupt syndicate where you should plan on making hundreds of millions. Why serve in the military, they have a strict judicial system. Politics is the place for people with larceny in their heart and the beltway will be their new home. Adopt a life of crime and become a part of the new criminal enterprise.
@Skookum:
There is a thin line between love and hate
The USA has always been imperfect but most of us still love her and think she is the best of all countries to live in
@Randy: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article88042162.html
I didn’t think it would be so quick.
Isn’t it humorous, the Leftists who hate everything about the country are now wrapping themselves in the flag; now, that corruption among the Democrat elites has been codified into law.
@Skookum: The left wanted someone indicted for “outing” Valerie Plame even though there was no crime involved because she wasn’t covered by the law they tried to invoke. The left accused and wanted Romney’s head for income tax evasion without providing any proof. Go against the manmade global warming theory and you should be denied your 1st amendment rights and be subject to prosecution under the RICO statute. Overwhelming evidence is presented that Hillary broke the law and the left wants her to get away with it because she is a Party elder who will advance their Neo-Marxist agenda.
Conclusions: If you are a member of the Party you are above the law. If you are not a Party member, you should be subject to all laws. If there is no evidence you broke any of those laws, you can still be accused of breaking them and be subject to criminal prosecution. Sound familiar? It is the same mentality and thought process as the NAZI’s, Communists, and Radical Islamic groups have/had. And who says all dictators aren’t leftists?
Watching the interrogation of Director Comey, the conclusion I’m drawing is that he’s a highly intelligent and competent public servant, whose analysis of evidence and resulting conclusions have in no way been influenced by his own political views or those of anyone else. He’s probably the most honest man in the chamber, and he may be the smartest as well.
@Skookum:
Isn’t it humorous that the cons are now saying how much they hate the USA now that the Dirdctor of the FBI has feuded not to recommend prosecution of their perceived enemy?
Yup
Skook its the world turned upside down and now the cons are at the bottom and the left is singing Yankee Doodle Dandy
Pretty soon some hotheads on the left will start yelling “traitor”at you
it is tyranny of. the majority
What goes around, comes around
@another vet: That one captured the feelings of America. The Leftists can bang their dirty tennis shoes against the lids of garbage cans and sing the praises of Obama and Hillary, but the reality of the miscarriage of justice is settling in on the literate and acerbic and the revulsion will be felt.
Comey is a Clinton stooge and a partisan hack. He is being exposed by the hour.
James Comey, a lifelong republican, was originally a George W Bush appointee as a U.S. Attorney for the New York Southern District, and then a George W Bush appointee as United States Deputy Attorney General. He was appointed Director of the FBI by President Barack Obama, and confirmed by a vote 93 for and only 1 against.
Republicans thought he was an excellent public servant until he noted that there was insufficient evidence to recommend criminal charges be filed against Hillary Clinton. The problem they’ve suddenly got with James Comey is that his decision wasn’t partisan.
@Skookum:
The problem is those numbers are dwindling. The left wing ideologues don’t care about rule of law as it pertains to them, only everyone else. When you add the left wing ideologues together with those who don’t care because all that matters to them is getting the next freebie payment, we are looking at close to 50% of the public. Four more years of Obama via Hillary will put us over the 50% mark. The one promise Obama kept in a BIG way was to fundamentally transform the United States.
What the lefties who support “progressives” are actually indoctrinating the ignorant people of this country into the post modern philosophy. Committing crimes is there was no intent is part of this philosophy. None of us are to blame for the decisions we make in life because the environment we created is to blame for rape, child abuse, drug use and much more. This philosophy teaches we each create our own reality. No one is wrong. There are no losers in children soccer games. If I am irritated about something you say, it is your fault. Micro-aggression is part of this post modern philosophy. 1 + 1 really is not 2 any longer if you do not want it to be. The Clinton case was a typical decision based upon post modern philosophy. Because she didn’t intend to put a server in her basement and delete 30,000 emails or communicate with other state department employees about classified subjects, she is excused. The efforts to move away from the founding documents of this country is another symptom. If we keep the Constitution, then the left will be forced to face reality some day.
@Randy: This means, if we did not intend to be caught, we are not guilty.
@Larry Weisenthal: Yes, we all know there is a desperate push to create a legacy for Obama. Setting up poll results is a minor part of the effort, but Obama is like yesterday’s droppings in the kitty litter box; he no longer matters to us or the rest of the world.
Hillary is damaged goods and the American people will be subjected to a continuous barrage of her ‘lying’ videos for the next five months. When this vile harpie screams about the “Vast Right Wing Conspiracy,” the American public will have massive exposure to her lies and vapidity. “I never sent or received anything marked classified” or I never sent or received anything classified.” These lies will be juxtaposed with Comey’s description of FBI evidence. Her under-oath lies or perjury about turning over all her work-related emails will be exposed and the public will learn that she is untrustworthy and dishonest, and she will be promoting this image with her own statements.
The hearings will continue and the FBI’s findings will be dragged out and filleted for the public to see over the months ahead and they will judge whether Comey was splitting hairs when he said there is a difference between “extremely careless” and “gross negligence”.
The stories about servicemen who let down their guard and were imprisoned for years will be published and played in video and the public distaste for Clinton will increase.
The idea that we are all subject to the same laws will be played to the max after the public sees the comparisons between service men and Hillary; if not by the spineless Republicans who feed at the Democrat swine trough, it will be played by the Trumplicans. Enjoy your hollow victory and the creation of an Obama legacy, but take note, it will be a hollow victory.
The Clinton Foundation Slush Fund will be exposed; along with BJ’s efforts to sell influence while Hillary was in office and those will be hard and fast bullets to dodge.
Oh, yes, we can expect the drip of continual leaks from ordinary FBI agents who are sickened with the corruption. They won’t be sitting like a trained dog beneath the Clinton banquet table, waiting for scraps. There will always be new material from disgruntled investigators who are sickened by the corruption. The guys who believe in the job and their country.
@John: losing a job while under criminal indictment is different than Hillary’s case?