James Comey is in the crosshairs this morning, facing down ongressional Republicans who are suspicious of the Federal Bureau of Investigation director’s decision not to recommend charges against Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified information through her private email server.
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In almost five hours of testimony, Comey sought to explain the Justice Department’s decision ending an investigation that has dogged Clinton’s presidential campaign and raised fresh questions among voters about her trustworthiness.
“That is not true”, Comey said. “Folks can disagree about it”. “There are too many unanswered questions”, he said.
GOWDY: Secretary Clinton said ‘I did not e-mail any classified material to anyone on my e-mail, there is no classified material.’ Was that true? The FBI confirmed that foreign agents hacked her aides’ email accounts.
To the editor: The latest pronouncement from Comey moves the American people forward to the next chapter in the Clinton saga.
Mr Comey, who said on Tuesday he would not recommend that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee face criminal charges, was asked at the hearing if Mrs Clinton should face administrative punishment for the way she handled her email. “Given the nature of the system and of the actors potentially involved, we assess that we would be unlikely to see. direct evidence” of security breaches, Comey said. But Comey said FBI investigators uncovered “several thousand” work-related emails that she had not handed over, and three of those were classified at the time they were sent, though they were not marked as such.
“Given that assessment of the facts and my understanding of the law, my conclusion was and remains no reasonable prosecutor would bring this case”, he said.
That same day Clinton appeared at a North Carolina campaign event after having traveled together with President Obama on Air Force One.
Comey kept his cool through the hearing.
But during his testimony before the committee, Comey vigorously defended the FBI’s investigation, which resulted in its recommendation of no charges that was accepted by the DOJ.
Ironically, however, in using Comey’s testimony as a vehicle to attack Clinton, House Republicans succeeded in undermining Trump instead. “I did not coordinate that (announcement) with anyone”.
But with a presidential election in the balance, Comey was in the hot seat for his decision to not prosecute the presumptive Democratic nominee.
One can only hope that someone asks whether she has initiated such actions.
“No biggie. After all, she’s Hillary Clinton”.
“I firmly believe your decision was not based on convenience but on conviction”, Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat, told Comey.
Amid all the political posturing on Capitol Hill yesterday as members of Congress grilled FBI Director James Comey, one striking fact emerged – Hillary Clinton very likely lied to Congress under oath.
Democrats called the planned interview unnecessary and excessive, and they also criticized the Republican majority for meeting in secret to approve the 800-page GOP report.
You and I both know intent is really hard to prove.
Comey, a Republican, had an inkling of the furor to come after Chaffetz complained on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that Clinton was being held to a different “standard”.
And even if the evidence didn’t justify indictment, Comey importantly concluded that “any reasonable person in Secretary Clinton’s position … should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation”.
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Other troubling findings Comey reported include that Clinton’s personal server was “not even supported by full-time security staff like those found at agencies and departments of the United States government or even with a commercial email service like Gmail” and she used “her personal email extensively while outside the United States, including sending and receiving work-related emails in the territory of sophisticated adversaries”. Attorney General Loretta Lynch formally closed the inquiry Wednesday.
