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The Fix Was In
By Andrew C. McCarthyAn excerpt from a very interesting Comey friend. Read the whole thing. [NationalReview] Yes, the Fix Was In These columns have repeatedly pointed out that the decision whether to indict Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified information was not the FBI’s call. It was up to the Obama Justice Department, which was in the tank for Mrs. Clinton and was taking direction from President Obama. In April 2016, Obama publicly stated that he did not want his party’s inevitable nominee charged with a crime. In making that assertion, Obama distorted the Espionage Act, falsely implying that it required proof of intent to harm the United States before someone could be convicted of mishandling classified information. To the contrary, the law holds that a person is guilty (1) if she willfully causes the unauthorized transmission of classified information ‐ meaning if she understands the wrongfulness of the action and intentionally performs it anyway ‐ or (2) if through "gross negligence" she permits the information to be removed from its proper place or to be otherwise mishandled (see Section 793(d), (e), and (f) of Title 18, U.S. Code). The Justice Department adopted Obama’s erroneous intent standard, as, ultimately, did Comey. The former director’s statements in the Brett Baier interview firmly establish that the decision not to indict Mrs. Clinton was based on Obama Justice Department standards, not on the terms of the statute. For example, when asked why he was confident, long before Clinton was even interviewed, that she would not be charged, Comey said the investigators working the case told him, "Look boss, on the current course and speed, it looks like it’s not gonna get to a place where the prosecutors would bring it." It was not that the evidence was insufficient under the law; it was that the Justice Department would not indict. Baier then played a now-familiar recording of Comey, under questioning by Representative Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.), conceding that Clinton had made various false claims about her emails (no emails "marked ’classified,’" no classified emails sent or stored, all work-related emails returned to the State Department). Baier then asked why, despite this pattern, Comey had made his decision against charges even before Clinton was questioned. While denying that he had made a final decision at that point, he said he had a "general sense" that the evidence was "unlikely to get us to a place where they would prosecute at the Justice Department." Posted by: Deacon Blues 2018-04-29 |
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