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In a press conference Tuesday morning, FBI Director James Comey said that although Hillary Clinton had while secretary of state knowingly sent classified information through her personal email server — some of which was classified as high as top secret — the FBI would not recommend criminal charges against the presumptive Democrat nominee.
Saying that the FBI’s investigation was handled “honestly, competently and independently,” he excoriated Clinton for being “careless” with information and left open the possibility that foreign actors may have hacked into her email. However, he announced that “no reasonable prosecutor” would go forward with charges against Clinton.
Comey’s recommendation will go to the Department of Justice, who will ultimately decide whether she should be charged.
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“(A)ny reasonable person in Secretary Clinton’s position, or in the position of those government employees with whom she was corresponding about these matters, should have known that an unclassified system was no place for” those emails, Comey said during the press conference, during which he took no questions.
Comey said that he did not find evidence that Clinton’s team at the State Department sought to delete emails deliberately to prevent them from being found. However, he did say that certain devices were wiped “as to preclude complete forensic recovery,” which sounds like a pleasant euphemism for chicanery.
Comey confirmed that, contrary to what Clinton has said all along, many of her emails had been classified at the time they were sent. Hillary had previously argued that the emails had been classified after the fact, something that the FBI refuted.
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“From the group of 30,000 emails returned to the State Department, 110 emails in 52 email chains have been determined by the owning agency to contain classified information at the time they were sent or received,” Comey said.
“Eight of those chains contained information that was Top Secret at the time they were sent; 36 chains contained Secret information at the time; and eight contained Confidential information, which is the lowest level of classification. Separate from those, about 2,000 additional e-mails were “up-classified” to make them Confidential; the information in those had not been classified at the time the e-mails were sent.
Comey also said that “they were extremely careless in their handling of” the information on Clinton’s servers. While he found no direct evidence that foreign governments or individuals had hacked into her email, he noted that she “also used her email extensively outside the United States,” raising the possibility that foreign actors were able to do so while Clinton traveled.
Comey: @HillaryClinton and her @StateDept team were "extremely careless” in handling of emails pic.twitter.com/S8S9ZqEZfG
— POLITICO (@politico) July 5, 2016
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“None of these emails should have been on any kind of unclassified system,” Comey said, although he concluded that this did not mean she should be charged.
“In looking back at our investigations into mishandling or removal of classified information, we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts,” Comey said. “No reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.”
He added that such cases would usually involve “clearly intentional and willful mishandling of classified information; or vast quantities of materials exposed in such a way as to support an inference of intentional misconduct; or indications of disloyalty to the United States; or efforts to obstruct justice.”
While I don’t wish to impugn Comey, one wonders just what his definitions of “efforts to obstruct justice” or “vast quantities of materials exposed” are. They’re probably different than yours.
Comey said that statutes were violated, but that no prosecution will be brought. What a world.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) July 5, 2016
So, just so we’re clear: Hillary Clinton broke the law, she apparently meant to break the law, but that isn’t enough to bring charges.
Comey also said that people who do things like this are “often subjected to security or administrative sanctions.” This is a woman who is running for president of our country, from whom almost nothing of a sensitive nature will be kept. She will have the nuclear codes. We’re going to put “security or administrative sanctions” on her?
I have great respect for James Comey — and, in all fairness, once Bill Clinton was hanging out with Loretta Lynch, we knew that the fix was in. However, Comey’s excoriation of Clinton for breaking the law isn’t enough. We cannot put “administrative sanctions” on a candidate once they become president. Instead, we must ensure that candidate never becomes president.
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