After fevered efforts to find something damning in the emails found on Anthony Weiner’s server…FBI Director James B Comey says “…the agency stands by its original findings against recommending charges.”
Now, I think there needs to be some serious follow up investigations by the Justice Department and Congress into what was actually on Mr. Weiner’s computer…the news articles keep saying they are Clinton emails…are they actually emails sent from Hillary Clinton herself? Simply someone in her campaign? Or just from his estranged wife?
And did the FBI illegally inject itself into the presidential campaign?
And it wouldn’t be politic to fire him today, but President Obama should fire Director Comey first thing Wednesday morning. Dir. Comey shouldn’t be rewarded if his actions ushered in a Trump era and Sec. Clinton shouldn’t have to deal with it as president.
I think Comey did a good job. As Chris Cillizza wrote in the Washington Post last July, it’s a massive risk for the Dems to nominate someone under investigation by the FBI. He had fresh potential evidence in the case and was obligated to review it. He felt obligated to inform congress. When you nominate someone under investigation by law enforcement you can get some unpleasant surprises. I don’t think Comey injected himself into the presidential election. I think the DNC and the Clinton’s dragged the countries fortunes into the middle of an FBI investigation.
“…Comey did a good job.”
Some thought not citing “the Hatch Act” http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Hatch+Act+of+1939
Steve, I don’t agree with you at all.
Just on a common sense test, the FBI had to have a pretty good idea that the emails on Weiner’s computer were either copies of emails that they had already examined or totally unrelated to the Clinton campaign. It would be a far stretch to think that Hillary Clinton had access to that computer or would have used it enough to generate or accumulate tens of thousands of emails as first reported (not the 650,000 that Donald Trump was proclaiming).
And although their initial warrant to seize Weiner’s computers wouldn’t let them read the suspect emails they certainly would have inventoried them via sender/recipient/title and had a rough idea what they were looking at. It is pretty likely that they knew that Ms. Clinton wasn’t involved in anything new here.
But ask yourself this question. How many emails do you have on your PC or laptop? If you are like me, you log into your various sources of email and read them in place. You don’t load them down to your computer.
So the next question is, why were they even there and who would have wanted to keep them? The only likely individual is Weiner’s wife…Huma Abedin. So at best there might a case against Ms. Abedin for mishandling emails…but for emails on a private computer, I don’t think Ms. Clinton can be held responsible…and the FBI should have known that and they were out of line this time.
And that is without evening bringing up the much mentioned Hatch Act. But President Obama should fire Dir. Comey Wednesday morning. The FBI and DOJ reps depend on it.
Ed,
Obama isn’t going to fire Comey. Neither will Clinton. And my hunch is that a seasoned prosecutor and politico like Comey wouldn’t expose himself to possible Hatch Act violations.
Bottom line: nominating someone under FBI investigation is a helluva risk. As my old man always says, ” you pays your monies, you takes your chance “
As far as I’m concerned, Comey should be at his local Aldi collecting some empty boxes.
Guys,
The political malfeasance here was committed by the DNC/Clinton camp, who bamboozled Dems into believing it was just ” a security review ” when they knew damn well she was the focus of and FBI investigation. I’ve sat through a couple of candidate vetting meetings at the assembly and state senate level, and I can guarantee you that if the prospective candidate had told us ” oh, and, by the way, I’m currently being investigated by local law enforcement for this, that or the other thing…. ” the meeting would have been abruptly over.
Thanks Steve. People who can’t find anything problematic with Clinton are just as nutty as those who cannot find anything problematic with Trump, in my opinion. There’s a reason they both have higher unfavorable than favorable ratings.
Thanks Dan. What’s ironic is that if Comey had made his pronouncements about a Trump investigation we’d all be singing his praises to the high heavens and defending him from any accusation that he violated the Hatch Act. It would be ” the guy is just doing his job “.
Shortly after Bernie Sanders made his famous primary remark about how America was sick and tired of Clinton’s ” damn emails ” he was interviewed by Jake Tapper on CNN, who asked Sanders if he thought the emails were no big deal. Sanders replied that they were a big deal, a very serious matter, but that he had chosen, against some of his advisers counsel, to not politicize the issue and let the investigation run its course. Sanders was right. The emails were always a big deal, as any FBI investigation always is. But Dems all over the country chose instead to characterize it solely as a baseless republican attack point, which the Clinton camp encouraged. Well, the investigation is apparently over, as is, almost, the election, and it looks like Clinton will survive both. But at what cost to the country?
Bill Clinton, apparently, as good as encouraged Trump to run for president. Hillary ran even though she knew she was under an FBI investigation.
I hope we can survive them.