Why the quid pro quo of Hillary's helpers is far worse than Trump's awful tape

To the extent it's being covered, you keep hearing this morning of a "quid pro quo" proposed by the State Department to the FBI in an attempt to hide Hillary's criminal mishandling of classified material. This revelation, which came courtesy of WikiLeaks (of course), seems not to be getting the same type of traction as Donald Trump's p**** grab tabe, which I guess is to be expected. A lot of people might not even know what quid pro quo means. Everyone knows what it means to go up to a woman and grab her . . . OK, let's not go there. But people should understand it, and they should recognize that what was going on inside the government on Hillary's behalf was a far more egregious sin than any lewd thing that came out of Trump's mouth - and I say that with thought whatsoever of defending Trump's awful words. It's widely believed that both candidates are awful, but that Hillary is at least experienced and prepared while Trump is a stark-raving lunatic.

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Here's the problem with that: Yes, Hillary knows her way around the government. But her track record shows that she consistently uses that knowledge to get away with operating above the law and above official policy for her own personal benefit. Even worse: She is expert at having other people do her dirty work for her while maintaining just enough distance from the malfeasance that she can claim she knew nothing about it. In this case, State Department official Patrick Kennedy was messing around with serious matters of law enforcement, holding up help the FBI needs in order to secure their cooperation in a coverup of Hillary's crimes:

Documents revealed Kennedy tried to horse-trade with the FBI, offering additional slots for the bureau overseas if they would de-classify a particular email from Hillary Clinton’s server marked “SECRET.” The files also revealed he repeatedly tried to “influence” the bureau’s decision when his offer was denied, even taking his plea up the chain of command. . . . Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said in a statement that Kennedy should be “removed immediately.”

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“The fact that Under Secretary Kennedy allegedly ‘pressured’ the FBI to change the classification of an email to benefit Secretary Clinton as part of a ‘quid pro quo’ after her behavior came to light is alarming, and a sign of just how corrupt the State Department became under her tenure. Kennedy should be removed from his position immediately until a real investigation is completed.” Even as pressured ramped up, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Kennedy isn’t going anywhere. Toner also denied there was any proposed deal, saying the FBI official first raised the number of bureau personnel approved to be in Iraq at the end of the phone call as a separate issue. As for the FBI official's account, he said, "I can't speak to what this person's intent, whether they misunderstood the atmosphere of that conversation, I have no idea. All I can say is that there was no quid pro quo."

Toner's denial is obvious Bolshevik. But I really want people to understand just what happened here. The FBI needs to be able to put agents in certain countries in order to investigate and solve crimes. It needs the assistance of the State Department to secure visas and other necessary documentation so the agents can travel to these countries without problems. What Kennedy did here is offer the help the FBI needed, but only if the FBI would play ball on the Hillary investigation. However many other things were wrong with the FBI's investigation of Hillary - and there were a lot - give them credit for not giving in on this crap. But also understand: The State Department was willing to jeopardize the success of real criminal investigations in order to protect Hillary from culpability for her own crimes.

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And if you think for a minute that Hillary didn't know about this and direct it, you're an idiot. If Hillary is elected, this is the sort of misuse of the federal government that will become even more standard than it already is. Hillary Clinton is a criminal, pure and simple. She has no respect for the law and doesn't think she needs to have any. Putting a person like this in control of the executive branch of the government is about the most terrifying mistake I can possibly imagine the voters making. You don't have to defend some of the personal behavior of Donald Trump to recognize that Hillary's willingness to compromise the FBI and the State Department for her own personal benefit is a far greater threat to the good of the nation. And if all you keep hearing all day long is "quid pro quo," you might not really understand just how egregious that is. You need to.

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