Sunday, November 06, 2016

FBI Clears Hillary Clinton Again


Donald Trump supporters will be crying in their beer and cheap moonshine again over the news that, after a review of the e-mails that Trump tool James Comey made such a big deal about a week ago Friday, the FBI found no criminality on the part of Hillary Clinton.  Of course, if Comey had not been playing political games and trying to throw the presidential election to Donald Trump, he would have reviewed the new e-mails and ONLY AFTER doing so, would he have advised Congress of the new e-mails and that they did not change the FBI's prior position that there was no basis for any criminal charges.   Sadly, I suspect Comey is now trying to save his own sorry ass. As I have asked before, when is he going to be investigated - and hopefully, prosecuted - for violating the Hatch Act?  The Washington Post has details on Comey's big fail and self-preservation attempt.  Here are excerpts:
FBI Director James B. Comey notified key members of Congress Sunday afternoon that after reviewing newly discovered Hillary Clinton emails the agency stands by its original findings against recommending charges.
Comey wrote that investigators had worked “around the clock” to review all the emails found on a device used by former congressman Anthony Weiner that had been sent to or from Clinton and that “we have not changed our conclusions expressed in July.”
The conclusion from Comey provided one more twist to the 2016 presidential race and cleared away a major distraction for Clinton and her team just two days before the election.
Prior to his Oct. 28 announcement, Clinton had opened a significant lead over Republican Donald Trump in most public polling following a string of strong debate performances. But the polls tightened considerably as Clinton’s email practices once again took center stage.
Comey had come under fire for inserting the FBI into the campaign’s final days with the announcement. Department of Justice policy discourages the agency from taking steps in days before an election, to avoid the perception that the FBI is trying to the influence the outcome of the vote.
A spokesman for the FBI declined to comment beyond Comey’s letter. A Department of Justice spokesman said only that the department and FBI had “dedicated all necessary resources to conduct this review expeditiously.” 
Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon tweeted in response: “We were always confident nothing would cause the July decision to be revisited. Now Director Comey has confirmed it .”
The three-paragraph letter was sent to the chairman of the Homeland Security, Judiciary, Appropriations and Oversight and Government Reform and was copied to the ranking members of those committees. Comey said the FBI had performed an “extraordinary amount of high quality work” to conduct the review.
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform committee said the announcement “affirms and vindicates” the FBI’s decision from July. “Over the past week, Republicans have engaged in wild speculation and launched unsubstantiated accusations, but the FBI has determined—yet again—that they are without merit. Now it is time for the American people to go forward base,” he said.

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