what’s wrong with hillary clinton’s emails?
Clinton used a private email server, located in her New York home, while she was secretary of state, from 2009 to 2013. She admitted this was a mistake. In July, the FBI concluded that Clinton and her aides had been “extremely careless” in handling classified information but should not face criminal charges. The issue has haunted the Democrat’s campaign for the presidency, with supporters of Republican rival Donald Trump regularly chanting: “Lock her up!”
what just happened?
On Friday, FBI Director James Comey alerted members of Congress to a new batch of emails that he said could be “relevant” to the investigation. As many as 650,000 messages were reportedly found on a laptop seized during an unrelated investigation of Anthony Weiner, a former New York congressman who is the estranged husband of Huma Abedin, a longtime Clinton aide.
abedin and weiner split after weiner was caught in 2011, 2013 and again in 2016 sending women sexually explicit text messages and nude images of himself. Federal authorities in New York and North Carolina are investigating online communications between Weiner and a 15-year-old girl.
Senior Justice Department officials expressed concern that Comey’s decision to brief Congress would be inconsistent with protocols designed to avoid the appearance of interference in an election. but the director of the fbi was ahead.
what’s in the emails?
We don’t know. Comey himself admitted: “The FBI cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant.” those emails with a connection to the clinton server could simply be duplicates of emails already analyzed. Or they could contain a smoking gun that compromises Clinton even after the election. On Sunday, the FBI obtained a warrant to begin reviewing the newly discovered emails. the process will not be finished before election day.
what was the reaction to comey’s announcement?
The timing, less than two weeks before the presidential election, drew harsh criticism from Democrats and even some Republicans. At a organizing event in Daytona Beach, Clinton called Comey’s actions “unprecedented” and “deeply troubling.”
his campaign launched an all out war against the comey. President John Podesta said: “By providing selective information, you have allowed supporters to distort and exaggerate to inflict maximum political damage and no one can separate what is true from what is not because the Comey has not been honest with the facts. ”.
The broader Democratic establishment weighed in as well, with four senators demanding a briefing from Comey, and nearly 100 former Justice Department officials and prosecutors, both Republican and Democrat and led by former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder, signing a letter criticizing Comey’s decision. .
Meanwhile, the trump campaign was euphoric. “We never thought we’d say ‘thank you’ to Anthony Weiner,” the Republican presidential candidate said at a rally in Nevada.
Did Comey abuse his power?
The nearly 100 former officials criticized his actions in their open letter, which was published by the Clinton campaign. “Director Comey’s letter is inconsistent with prevailing department policy and breaks with longstanding practices followed by officials of both parties during past elections,” they said.
In another scathing letter to Comey, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada accused him of a clear intent to help one party over another. “I am writing to inform you that my office has determined that these actions may violate the Hatch Act, which prohibits FBI officials from using their official authority to influence an election,” Reid wrote. “Through his partisan actions, he may have broken the law.”
richard painter, chief white house ethics attorney from 2005 to 2007, sclaimed that he had filed a complaint against the fbi for a possible violation of the hatch law.
what is the hatch law?
passed in 1939, prohibits any member of the executive branch (other than the president or vice president) from using their official position to engage in political activity.
carolyn lerner, chief of the office of the united states special counsel, wrote in the new york times five years ago: “at best, [the law] prevents people in political power from abusing their positions. prohibits coercion by a government supervisor, such as pressuring employees to volunteer or contribute to a campaign, and protects the civil service and the federal workplace from politicking.”
In July, Housing Secretary Julian Castro was found to have violated the Hatch Act when he expressed support for Clinton. However, Comey’s action is less overtly partisan and a case against him would be difficult to prove in court.
Republican congressman trey gowdy told fox news on monday: “it is ridiculous that jim comey would have violated the hatch law. in fact, I know what the law of the hatch is.”
Demonstrating a selective reading of the law, he continued: “if the fact that the president of the united states is actively campaigning during the company’s time for another candidate to be president of the united states is not a violation of the hatch law, so how is jim comey supplementing the record and telling the truth to congress a violation of the hatch law?
“harry reid knows this is not rape.”
then why did comey do it?
told his FBI colleagues in a memo Friday that he knew his letter was at risk of being misconstrued, but felt compelled to notify Congress of the new emails after telling lawmakers the matter It was closed.
There have been reports that some within the fbi revolted at comey’s earlier decision not to recommend charges against clinton, and that he feared news of the new email investigation would leak to the media, which would lead to accusations of cover-up. above, especially if it happened after November 8. therefore, he considered going public now to be the least bad option.
Will these events affect the outcome of the elections?
possible but not likely. More than 23 million people have already voted and so far there is little evidence of movement. Clinton still has a three-point lead over Trump, according to a Morning/Political Consultation poll conducted after Comey’s remarks. And a CBS/Yougov survey of likely voters in 13 battleground states showed that just 1% of Clinton supporters were less likely to vote for her after the announcement.
His campaign said his own volunteers had been fired up and this would remove any danger of complacency. However, Trump believes he has new momentum from a saga he has described as “bigger than Watergate.”
Which candidate dominates the headlines, their ratings in the polls tend to drop. Clinton probably has enough cushion, but the bomb could still affect close races for the House and Senate.