Comey's decison was wrong!

Only FBI Director James Comey knows why, after detailing a solid case for indicting Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified material, he decided not to recommend indictment. It may have been because he thought of the greater good, as Scott Adams proposed here. Or it may have been because he thought of his own future career, as a number of other writers have suggested. Or it may have been that someone got to him with a threat or an inducement and put the fix in. Only he knows his reasoning.

After thinking about it for a few more days, I have decided it was the wrong call.  Yes, indicting Hillary would probably have ended her race , though that might not have been such a disaster  - perhaps the Democrats would have gotten Biden or some other reasonable candidate to replace her and given us all a better set of options in this election.

But whatever the consequences, it is obvious to all but Hillary’s True Believers that she was guilty as hell – of lying, of mishandling classified material, of trying to evade the Federal Records Act requirements – and that she did all this knowingly and deliberately.  No amount of Clinton lawyerly weasel-word arguments (it depends on the definition of “is”) can evade the facts.  Comey argued that she didn’t do it with any intend to harm the nation – but that certainly hasn’t been a defense for lower-level people who have gone to prison for much less. He argued that she was simply “terribly careless” – how is that different from the “gross negligence” which is specifically called out in the relevant acts?  He said there was no evidence of “clear intent” – doesn’t hiring someone to set up a private server in your New York home show “clear intent”. And besides, the relevant federal statutes don’t require intent – only the commission of an act – whether intended or not -  that puts classified information at risk.

Hillary should have been indicted, and at the very least fined and perhaps had her security clearances removed.  That is what would have happened to any ordinary federal worker who did what she did, and we all know that.

Scott Adams argues that a government needs credibility to function effectively.  I agree, and Comey’s decision to give Hillary a pass on such egregious violations of Federal statutes certainly weakens the credibility of this government. It proves once again that in this government the Washington elite are above the law, just like in any banana republic around the world.