FBI Director James Comey’s testimony Thursday makes it crystal clear that Hillary Clinton lied – both to Congress and the American people.
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The FBI’s finding that Clinton sent and received classified emails on a private email server demolished months of public assurances by the former secretary of state that she had done no such thing.
The four-and-a-half hour hearing, however, appeared to eke out several new seams for Republicans to pursue.
The chairman of the House Government and Oversight Committee, Republican congressman Jason Chaffetz of Utah, said he would refer Mrs Clinton’s testimony to the FBI to investigate whether she lied to Congress. Comey said the cases draw some good contrast, especially because Petraeus lied to law enforcement and the classified information he had was found hidden inside the insulation of his attic.
After a piercing moment of silence, the Republican congressman inquired, “What do you think her intent was?” “They were not marked at the headers but portions of the body of the emails were marked with “(C)”, which designates them as classified. “They weren’t looking at it”.
Gowdy had one final question: “Secretary Clinton said her lawyers read every one of the emails and were overly inclusive”.
“Our committee’s work is done”, Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) told reporters after the roughly hourlong meeting, which went on behind closed doors and was interrupted by a 40-minute lockdown of the Capitol. “Was that true?” the South Carolina Republican asked at the outset.
Comey: “That’s not true”.
“I have said, and I repeat, that it was a mistake to use personal email”, she added.
“No, there was classified material emailed”, Comey responded. There is not evidence or precedent for a person in Hillary Clinton’s situation facing criminal charges.
While being questioned by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) over the potentially chilling effects of the hearing, Director Comey said, “My honest answer is, I don’t think so”.
He damns her in detail, but, in a Pyrrhic victory, dismisses her for any criminal conduct, now and forever.
Democrats agreed with Comey and called the hearing little more than another Republican attempt to politicize the probe against Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president this fall.
“There is no effect, director – there is no outcome”, Chaffetz said, demanding to know why Clinton and her aides do not appear to be paying a price over the long-running controversy.
“However, many people – myself included – struggle to reconcile the case that you made against Secretary Clinton with the decision against recommending prosecution”.
Director Comey said there were at least “three of the documents” with “portion markings on them”, the “C” denoting confidential/classified.
Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) told Comey that he would request the FBI investigate whether Clinton lied under oath to Congress.
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The Utah Republican, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, tells Comey that the “fact pattern” he laid out in a scathing report this week about Clinton’s use of a private email server does not match his conclusion not to indict her. No reasonable prosecutor would bring the second case in a hundred years focused on gross negligence.. That’s a flawless illustration of the kind of cases that get prosecuted.
