Overjoyed when 56-year-old FBI Directory James Comey decided not to prosecute 69-year-old Democratic nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton July 3, the Hillary campaign now decries his decision Oct. 28 to open a new investigation eleven days before Nov. 8. Praised as an even-handed professional July 3, Comey’s now the goat to Democrats with the election on the line. Hillary’s 67-year-old campaign Chairman John D. Podesta and her 36-year-old campaign manager Robby Mook accused Comey of playing politics. Hillary’s back in the hot seat because a preponderance of her email evidence shows she violated U.S. laws regarding sending-and-receiving classified material. When Comey decided July 3 to not charge Hillary or at least convene a grand jury, it looked like he overlooked key pieces of evidence showing her guilty as sin.
Only four days before Comey’s July 3 decision, former President Bill Clinton met with Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch for 30 minutes on the tarmac of Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport. It looked like they reached a deal to keep Hillary from prosecution, not discussing their grandchildren. “It’s reported today, this morning, that the Department of Justice was fighting with the FBI,” said Trump, over Comey’s decision to open a new investigation. Comey was informed by FBI investigators, that after scouring the laptop computer of former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), the former husband of Hillary’s closest aide Huma Abedin, they discovered thousands of new emails implicating Hillary with more unlawful actions. “And that’s because the Department of Justice is trying so hard to protect Hillary,” Trump told a crowd in Golden, Colorado, prompting cheers of “lock-her-up.”
Accusing the FBI of playing politics, Hillary wants the FBI to compromise its investigation and release all the emails in question to the public. Hillary’s smart enough to know that no law enforcement agency, federal or otherwise, compromise investigation to placate public demands, or because of an impending election. Hillary partisans want to blame Comey’s decision on partisanship but Comey was caught between a rock-and-hard place: Damned if he did, damned if he didn’t. If he said nothing before the election, it would compromise voters who might otherwise not vote for her. Going public with the new investigation 11 days before the election, Comey set himself up for Democratic ridicule. Trump’s been highly critical of Comey for not charging Hillary July 3, especially for deliberately ordering her IT staff to delete some 33,000 emails after receiving a Congressional subpoena.
Whether or not there’s anything new in the email investigation, no public or private sector employee can erase electronic data to eschew a criminal investigation, Congressional or otherwise, without a charge of “obstruction of justice.” “This letter is troubling because it is vaguely worded and leaves so many questions unanswered,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.}, ranking member of he Senate Judiciary Committee. Comey’s under no obligation to tip his hand during an ongoing investigation. Hillary, Podesta and her closest advisors know what’s on Huma’s computer or cell phone. Comey received the recommendation to open up the investigation from his senior investigators combing through thousands of emails. Whether or not some emails duplicate others is anyone’s guess. Hillary’s backers want Comey to urgently release the emails for obvious reasons.
Releasing the emails before completing the FBI investigation would (a) attack the FBI credibility and (b) contaminate evidence in any criminal probe. Leahy questioned whether or not the emails in question were in the custody of the FBI or whether or not Hillary sent-and-received them. Hillary’s campaign has only one worry before the election: To hang onto their lead over Trump. “There are those, and I happen to be one of them, who think Hillary offered Loretta Lynch a reappointment as attorney general,” said Trump raising questions about her June 20 meeting with former President Bill Clinton at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. “There is no evidence of wrongdoing, no charge of wrongdoing, no indication that is was even about Hillary,” said Podesta, sounding more like defenders of President Richard Nixon during the height of the Watergate scandal.
Podesta knows that Comey would not have subjected himself to public scorn had there been no compelling reason. Comey knew “full well what Republicans in Congress would do with that,” said Podesta, pretending that there’s no substance to an FBI criminal probe of the Democratic Party presidential candidate. Calling Comey’s action “long on innuendo and short on facts,” Podesta hopes to reassure undecided voters that an FBI investigation doesn’t mean anything. Told by senior FBI investigators that there’s substance to the new email review, Comey would not have put himself on the line without compelling evidence. Blowing as much smoke as possible before Nov. 8, Podesta wants voters to think Hillary will be cleared again this time around. Podesta ripped House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Ut.) for “taking the opportunity to distort” the facts.
