Today's essay from former Federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy is a must-read. Here are two tidbits.
If you or I had set up an unauthorized private communications system for official business for the patent purpose of defeating federal record-keeping and disclosure laws; if we had retained and transmitted thousands of classified emails on this non-secure system; if we had destroyed tens of thousands of government records; if we had carried out that destruction while those records were under subpoena; if we had lied to the FBI in our interview — well, we’d be writing this column from the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth. Yet, in a feat of dizzying ratiocination, Director Comey explained that to prosecute Mrs. Clinton would be to hold her to a nitpicking, selective standard of justice not imposed on other Americans...I've been watching this in a mixture of disbelief and horror. It was absolutely clear to me way back when that Hillary and practically every member of her staff were criminals, doing things that would have sent me to jail. It's also clear now that the same FBI hierarchy that let her off the hook was spying on the Trump campaign.
It has now been confirmed that the Trump campaign was subjected to spying tactics under counterintelligence law — FISA surveillance, national-security letters, and covert intelligence operatives who work with the CIA and allied intelligence services. It made no difference, apparently, that there was an ongoing election campaign, which the FBI is supposed to avoid affecting; nor did it matter that the spy targets were American citizens, as to whom there is supposed to be evidence of purposeful, clandestine, criminal activity on behalf of a foreign power before counterintelligence powers are invoked.
Where does this end? If this isn't punished and severely at that, in two years Trump's reelection campaign team would be chumps not to return the favor and spy or even worse on the Democrats' candidate and staff.
When this whole Russia collusion idiocy started, I never suspected we'd get to this point where we discovered that the Obama Administration had been spying on the Trump campaign. Right about now, I'll bet they're kicking themselves that they didn't plant evidence and frame high-level Trump advisors for crimes during the campaign.
Not to worry. If we don't prosecute this behavior, someone will be doing that in the near future.
4 comments:
I would like to remind you of something about the Clintons:
They are both lawyers. And by all reports, they are very knowledgeable lawyers.
The thing is, one doesn't need to devote oneself wholeheartedly to the study of law if the intent is just to lead a blameless, morally upright life. It is, however, both very useful and necessary if the intent is to skirt that fine line between legal and illegal. To work out ways to do the self-serving, unethical, morally dubious things that you want to do without actually toppling over into the region where anyone can do anything about it legally. And to set up protections for yourself so that, if you accidentally misjudge where that exact line might be, you can compartmentalize the damage so that you only have to pay fines or get convicted of misdemeanors, and not ever have any felonies pinned to you.
At this point, I don't dispute that the Clintons have done a lot of stuff that any normal person would consider crimes. But what matters to the Clintons isn't what normal people think. It is what the law thinks. And given their known expertise in the law, I am pretty certain that they have been extremely careful not to go over the line to violate the actual letter of the law, only the spirit of it. This is supported by the fact that, even though Republicans of all stripes seem to hate the Clintons, have had darned near thirty years to dig up all manner of dirt on them, and these same Republicans have, at least in theory, been in complete control of the government for almost a year and a half, they yet somehow haven't been able to get them indicted (let alone tried or convicted) of anything they could send them to jail for.
At this point, it is clear to me that the only thing to be gained by continuing to go after the Clintons is that the Republicans see them as useful bogeymen. They aren't going to get any convictions, and if they don't know that, then they are being unbelievably obtuse. And if they do know that, then they are being manipulative, and most likely trying to distract everyone from their own self-serving, unethical, and morally dubious activities.
The law thinks running your own email server as Secretary of State and destroying information contained therein is a felony. Period. People are in Leavenworth for this. Every year, government employees, particularly in State, DoD, Justice and the FBI get refresher training telling them this is the case.
I love you, man, but this is not what the law thinks at all. This is the establishment of a class of political royalty that can do whatever they want out in the open. They are of royal blood and you are a peasant. I'm serious about that. If we don't stop this now, if these are the rules, then everyone back in DC is going to play the game this way.
OK, I don't actually disagree with you on this. I just want to know, if the law is that clear, why aren't her opponents, of whom there are many, hauling her into court to face the music? Especially since they are, as far as I can see, currently in a position to demand that the Justice Department do so?
Either they can't, or they don't actually want to. Which is it?
People are in Leavenworth for this.
My husband almost went to Leavenworth because someone screwed up the list of documents, when he wasn't even there.
Either they can't, or they don't actually want to.
Or it would cost too much.
Not always in just money, either-- haven't you noticed how people who get in the way tend to get run over?
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