Back in July, F.B.I. Director James Comey advised the public, that although he found no evidence to criminally charge Hillary Clinton, she was, “extremely careless” when it came to handling classified State Department information.
Mr. Comey is possibly in violation of the Hatch Act, which originally prohibited members of the executive branch except for the President, Vice-President and chosen high level officials, to campaign or endorse publicly a presidential candidate. In 1993 a Congressional amendment expressly made it illegal for federal employees to use their authority to manage or participate in political campaigns. Now Mr. Comey, who apparently looked at his calendar and realized he was not receiving the usual Republican holiday invitations, decided that his only recourse was to do what he accused of Secretary Clinton, extreme carelessness. Previously, I have praised Mr. Comey for a principled stance over his opposition to the domestic surveillance policies of the George W. Bush Administration when was Acting Attorney General in 2004.
Like a lot of Republicans, when the fire comes they push the innocents into the breach.
Comey reversed this position when, as F.B.I. Director, he backed efforts to have a so-called, “backdoor” allowing intrusion into Apple’s phone security technology so authorities could track the communiques of terrorist in the December 2015 San Bernardino massacre. He contradicted the arguments he used in 2004 to oppose the Bush/ Cheney administration’s domestic surveillance program. Comey wrapped up his original e-mail investigation of Mrs. Clinton without so much as a motion in limine. Comey knew he could not ask the DOJ to probe for further information due to the flimsy evidence at hand. He based his decision on a set of standards for prosecution and precedent. Despite pre-admonition from the DOJ and after his announcement condemnation by legal scholars from former Attorney General Eric Holder to FOX News commentator and Trump supporter Jeanine Pirro; Comey’s recent release of a loosely worded, fact-less accusation was deemed ethically bankrupt. Thus, duplicitous behavior is not new to Mr. Comey.
Now ten days prior to an election, that has been fraught with accusations of treasonous behavior, sexual molestation and racist overtones, Comey decided to complicate matters by intentionally or unintentionally possibly violating the Hatch Act. As a former member of the Department of Justice Director Comey also knows intent, in this case, is a distinction without a difference. The Clinton(s) have been the target of Republican witch hunts since the 90’s. Donald Trump is facing a preliminary court hearing in December for the rape of a 13-year-old girl, currently is being sued for running a fraudulent enterprise and is suspected of fondling or sexually violating 12 women, to date.
The only thing I can contribute this false equivalency, in the news media, with the obviously disqualifying behavior of Donald Trump, in comparison to the wholly unsubstantiated accusations against Hillary Clinton, is that they are corporate driven. The need to create a horse race for the sake of ratings is mind boggling. When CNN, MSNBC, FOX and the three major networks thought Trump was a rating grabbing bonanza they all rushed to broadcast every ill-informed sentence from his mouth. Now that we have an alleged, child molesting, race-baiting, predator in our midst, the laughs have stopped. Now every journalist is rushing to their cubicles to grab their pitchforks and torches to warn the town of the impending doom. Fall in line, the GOP welcomes you. They have watched their creation grow beyond their control for years.
Vote 2016!