Evidence vs. politics

FBI Director Comey's willingness to make noise may determine Hillary indictment

By Dan Calabrese ——Bio and Archives--March 22, 2016

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It's not a surprise that the FBI probably has the goods on Hillary Clinton, since anyone can see from basic news reports that she's almost certainly guilty of at least one felony. It's also not a surprise that the Obama Justice Department will find any way it can to avoid prosecuting her - because for creatures of the Beltway culture, politics trump the law every time. What we don't know is how much of a hubbub FBI Director James Comey is willing to create if he recommends an indictment based on clear and incontrovertible evidence that Hillary broke the law, only to have Attorney General Loretta Lynch sweep the whole thing under the rug because Hillary is Hillary. But Charles Gasparino, writing in the New York Post, has reason to believe Comey won't just fold up his tent quietly if that happens:

Some expect him to push for charges, but he faces a formidable obstacle: the political types in the Obama White House who view a Clinton presidency as a third Obama term. With that, agents have been spreading the word, largely through associates in the private sector, that their boss is getting stonewalled, despite uncovering compelling evidence that Clinton broke the law. Exactly what that evidence is — and how and when it was uncovered during Comey’s months-long inquiry — has not been disclosed. For the record, the FBI had no comment on the matter, and government sources say no final decision has been made. Clinton denies she did anything wrong, claiming she had no idea she was getting classified information (a violation of federal law) on her private server during her years as Obama’s secretary of state because the documents she received contained no such headings. And as FBI director, Comey can only recommend charges to the hacks in the Obama Justice Department. Indeed, many law enforcement officials who know the FBI chief and the bureau’s inner workings believe the evidence would have to be overwhelming for Comey to even recommend charges, much less for DOJ to pursue them. Still, some FBI staffers suggest the probe’s at a point where Comey might quit in protest if Justice ignores a recommendation to pursue a criminal case against Clinton.

Remember, Comey was originally appointed by President George W. Bush, and Gasparino points out that, during the Bush Administration, Comey went after some pretty big hitters on Wall Street with Bush's blessing - regardless of their politics. Perhaps you've forgotten that George W. Bush was a man of integrity who put serious governance ahead of politics. If Comey and the FBI are going to put all this work into the Hillary investigation only to have the DOJ squash the whole thing because indicting the likely Democrat nominee just isn't done, then Comey has to make a decision whether's willing to a) remain as FBI director; and b) stay quiet about what he knows. I'm not sure if there is really a precedent for this: The FBI does an investigation, uncovers clear evidence of criminal behavior only to have the DOJ refuse to indict strictly for political reasons . . . and the FBI goes public with the evidence it had for the purpose of shaming the Attorney General? Has that ever happened? I don't know of an example, but I also don't know if any particular rule or law that says it can't. I suppose that if you're Comey and you're thinking about doing this, you'd have to assume you're probably going to lose your job. But maybe that doesn't scare him. And as much as you know the media wants to protect Hillary by ignoring the story, can they really ignore it if the FBI director releases the actual evidence, and it's really compelling? See what happens when the entire viability of your career depends on people not finding out what you've actually done? That's what it would be like to be Hillary Clinton. But that's because of the choices she's made. No sympathy here.

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Dan Calabrese——Bio and Archives

Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain

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