Well, while I and many folks were watching the NFL playoffs, and other folks with obviously finer sensibilities were watching the Golden Globular people roundly congratulating themselves for how truly noble and wonderful they are, the FBI quietly released another three hundred Clinton emails … and I suspect that these are the ones that may sink her.
Why are these emails different from the other thirty thousand? The difference lies in where they were found, what they contained, and what happened to them.
First, where the emails were found. They were found where they shouldn’t have ever been—on the unsecure computer of an un-named “Clinton associate” who is widely agreed to be Sid Blumenthal, a long-time friend and major fund-raiser for the Clintons. I won’t bother you with an enumeration of Señor Blumenthal’s sins of omission, sins of commission, or sins of emission, of which there are many. It’s an interesting story, but not relevant here. However, let me say that by all accounts Sid is not an honorable gentleman
Next, what the emails contained. Secret information. Secret information for which Sid Blumenthal was not cleared. Secret information which should never have left the Clinton server, but which made its way to Sid Blumenthal’s unsecured computer.
Finally, what happened to the emails. Well … according to the FBI report, they were hacked. Copied by at least three governments, two of them “unfriendly” and one “friendly”. Inside sources are said to identify the two as Russia and China, and the one as Israel.
So … that’s the reason that I think it might be different this time. Before, because the Clinton server had been BitBleached, there was no way to tell if secrets had actually escaped confinement, or if they did, where they might have flown.
But now, we not only have FBI evidence that government secrets flew the coop … we also know from the FBI that those secrets were delivered first into the hands of Hillary’s pal who was NOT cleared for them, and eventually those secrets wound up in the hands of more than one unfriendly foreign power.
I can’t take even the slightest pleasure in this. We do not need this complication at this point. Yes, in a perfect word Lady Hillary likely should get some punishment for her monumental overweening pride and her malfeasance and lack of security regarding secrets.
But given a vote, I’d vote to just let it all go. Let her retire to the Berkshires and listen to James Taylor songs and explain to Bill how it was the Russians’ fault. I say we should let this go for one simple reason.
A trial of Hillary Clinton will only divide the US further.
It will inflame and encourage the most extreme people on both sides of the aisle. It is the last thing the nation needs at this time. We have real issues that we need to be focused on, and more than anything we need to concentrate on unity. This will tend to suck all the oxygen out of the room.
But whichever way the frog jumps … what a time to be alive!
Regards to all …
w.
Skating Under The Ice 
“you are about to get drug into an issue”? What educated person would write that?
LikeLike
Why not?
Educated people know:
Old English: dragan, drog, drogon or téon, tuge, tugon. Old Saxon: tegan, tog, togan.
Considering the overall sound shift from OE to modern English, drug was a pretty good choice 😉
LikeLike
G’day Willis,
Your suggestion has merit but, methinks that to pardon HRC will also serve to embolden others who would use such a precedent as defence. Apart from that, I agree that it would also be a major unneeded distraction from the practice of governing and it could pull some teeth from the jaws of the Trump haters.
Cheers,
Dave in West OZ
LikeLike
I think I’ve read the submarine sailor convicted of taking classified photos of the inside of the sub is trying to use the Hillary defense. May not work because he never transmitted the secret photos. He may not be ignorant enough to qualify for the Hillary defense.
LikeLike
RE: “Your suggestion has merit but, methinks that to pardon HRC will also serve to embolden others who would use such a precedent as defence. ”
If Nixon could be pardoned who shouldn’t be? The bar, or better, precedent (for purposes of ‘healing’) has been set. Time to move on and perhaps focus on plugging some leaks . . .
LikeLike
You plug leaks by putting the guilty in prison for long, very uncomfortable sentences. Hillary should spend the next 20-30 years in Leavenworth, and yes, the public should routinely see video of her being miserable.
LikeLike
Don’t forget the evil at the shoulder of the Hillary that committed all the malfeasance, her equally slimy husband. The only good thing that would come of Hillary sent to the slammer would be Bill having license to kill himself with sexual saturation.
LikeLike
Try as I do, I can’t kill myself that way. Geoff.
LikeLike
A Presidential Pardon from Trump for any Clinton suspected misconduct would be a fine final “insult”. Even if it included suspected influence dealings of the Clinton Foundation, it would help shelve the whole Clinton taste in the electorate mouth. It would help put them into blissful oblivion … blissful for the electorate, that is. There are far more pressing matters we face, moving forward.
LikeLike
It might be better if Obama pardoned her…maybe?
It would most likely be considered just one more
cover-uptime to witness Obama’s transparency.His pardon could also ensure the questions stop and she keeps her mouth shut.
In another ten years she can write her “tell-all”.
LikeLike
Can one pardon someone who hasn’t been convicted of anything?
LikeLike
> Can one pardon someone who hasn’t been convicted of anything?
Yes, see Nixon for one example.
LikeLike
> Secret information which should never have left the Clinton server
correction, Secret information that should never have been on the Clinton server in the first place.
I’ve also argued that it would be good to avoid the appearance or going after a political opponent by letting her slink away. However, the rumors are that she is not going to do that and is instead going to go after other political offices (mayor of New York is one I’ve heard recently).
So now the question is, will Obama pardon her? or will Trump be stuck with the problem of letting her get away with it or appearing to go after a political opponent.
LikeLike
Post script. No pardon was issued.
LikeLike
She has to admit her guilt or be convicted to be pardoned.
LikeLike
That is not true. Nixon received a pardon and was never convicted and never admitted any guilt.
LikeLike
He was not impeached?
LikeLike
first off, Impeachment is not conviction, it’s the equivalent of a grand jury recommending prosecution. After Impeachment a trial is held in the Senate to determine guilt
The house investigation recommended Impeachment, but Nixon resigned (and was pardoned) before the full house voted, let alone a trial held. So no, he was no impeached.
There have only been two US presidents impeached, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton (both acquitted)
according to this article, there have only been 19 federal officials impeached
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_in_the_United_States
LikeLike
So, you agree, Nixon committed no crime. Who was convicted? Did THEY receive “pardon” for the actual crimes they committed? Why was a person not convicted of a crime “pardoned”? Did Richard Nixon ACTUALLY commit any crime in all of this? And why was a list of prostitutes, prostitutes used by Democrat Party leaders in Congress and the various State Legislatures, a reason to impeach a President? Enquiring minds, and what not.
LikeLike
I didn’t say that Nixon committed no crime, I said that his case never made it to trial, a very different thing.
Ford granted him a Pardon, which said in part:
Now, Therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.
note that it is a blanket pardon for any federal offenses during the time frame.
No need for conviction, no need for a request for a pardon, no need for the person to plead guilty.
The entire pardon document is on the net at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=4696
LikeLike
Well. Was involved in the process to get a person pardoned, was told by a Federal Appellate judge that the person had to first be convicted of, or confess to, the charges before a “pardon” could be issued. Equallity for all citizens before the Law. Apparently we ain’t there.
LikeLike
The Constitution places no limits on the power of the President to grant a pardon.
That said, the President may define whatever processes they want for people to get his attention that there is a need for a pardon, and the bureaucrats in the Justice Department have developed their own “standard processes” that they mistake for laws.
So as a practical matter, the Judge was telling you the truth. But as a Legal/Constitutional matter, there is no such restriction on the President.
LikeLike
Really? I can simply petition a President for a pardon and never have committed any crime? Really? And pundits wonder why the people of America hold their government and judicial system in utter and complete contempt.
LikeLike
Yes, in theory you can petition the President for a Pardon without commiting any crime.
But it’s unlikely that any President would respond. Most Presidents grant a relatively small number of pardons.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_pardoned_or_granted_clemency_by_the_President_of_the_United_States
Obama pardoned (or reduced the sentences of) more people than Presidents Carter through Bush combined
LikeLike
Looking around at various articles about Presidential pardons and can’t find any for someone who had not committed crimes. Perhaps DJT should offer her a pardon, all she has to do is go into the Rose Garden, in front of cameras running live feeds worldwide, and confess her crimes. I could support that.
LikeLike
Remember that there is a huge difference between committing a crime, being charged with committing a crime, and being convicted of committing a crime.
Scott Adams did a very interesting post on the topic:
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/142294599851/the-presidential-persuasion-pardon
LikeLike
Dancing and spinning and twirling is not going to make this go away. Hillary Rodham Clinton is a criminal. Nothing you type on the internet is going to change that fact.
LikeLike
you must be mistaking me for someone else. I never said or implied that Hillary Clinton has not committed numerous crimes.
LikeLike
…I won’t bother you with an enumeration of Señor Blumenthal’s sins of omission, sins of commission, or sins of emission, of which there are many. It’s an interesting story, but not relevant here. However, let me say that by all accounts Sid is not an honorable gentleman…
You could have just said that Blumenthal is a political operator. It would have been the same thing, but shorter…
LikeLike
I respectfully disagree with the proposition that betrayal of national security should be overlooked in the name of national unity.
Preserving the principle of equal treatment under the law will matter far more to future generations. They will not care what today’s divisions are, and will need Google’s assistance to learn just what those divisions even were.
LikeLike
That is the issue.
Now, we have heard from Trump’s DOJ appointment that he would recuse himself from any investigations to avoid any appearance of going after their political opponents, so they are thinking hard about how to do this.
LikeLike
Well Mr. Morgan I’m agreeing with you. Put slightly differently at what point do you become “Too big to law” If that’s going to happen then I’d like to see a list. If you’re a city councilman then you can’t get parking tickets. If you become governor then you become immune to some state laws, but maybe not murder. As secretary of state, security laws are not applicable. There’s a concept of equality under the law that seems missing here; unless some are more equal than others.
LikeLike
it’s not a matter of anyone being immune as a result of their position, but rather that people should not go after their political opponent who they just beat.
So in the case of Hillary, it’s absolutely fine for any agency not under Trump’s control to nail her to the wall.
but if an agency controlled by Trump is going to do so, they are going to have to bend over backwards to prove that this isn’t a political prosecution. And no matter what they do, many of the left and in the press (but I repeat myself) are never going to believe it. They have already been saying that she and Bill have been hounded for 30 years for no reason.
Unfortunately, Obama didn’t give us the easy out by giving her a Pardon. And with her talking about running for the Mayor of New York City, she isn’t going to gracefully fade away. So they are going to have to figure out how to create an ‘independent enough’ investigation.
LikeLike
To paraphrase my security briefing this year was, Don’t do what Hillary did and expect the same result. I don’t disagree with trying to be impartial but there was no impartiality that I recognize in the Obama DOJ when it came to Comney dancing on the head of the pin of his decision(s); and additionally his violations of the law making the announcements when he did.
So I’m kind of sticking by rule of law first. Then that not working, I’m passive aggressive enough that I’d keep a low level investigation going (until the statute of limitations) as a sword of Damocles. Guess what happens if you try to run for office again? Yes, that’s blackmail which isn’t particularly legal and again not the first option.
Hillary’s strategies of deny, obfuscate (and maybe suspicious deaths) served her well for a long time; In 20/20 she maybe should have pushed to clear the suspicions a couple of years ago when by now everyone would have forgotten.
LikeLike
Again, to clarify, SHE BROKE THE LAW. Politics does not enter into it. SHE BROKE THE LAW. Period. Full stop. Prosecution, conviction, prison, in that specific order.
LikeLike
Absolutely right. Nobody is above the law (that is until they make themselves so, and the rest of the establishment doesn’t give it a second glance ere they get caught themselves. Prosecute her and her husband, lock em up, and throw away the key.
LikeLike
The problem with “she broke the law, lock her up” is nicely summarized in this book.
If law enforcement really wants to nail someone, they can. That’s why any investigation of a political opponent needs to be very careful. Ideally, the investigation is handled by a separate “uninvolved” agency (the FBI fills this role nicely for non-federal officials) and is done before there is an election so that there is no room for accusations that the investigation is punishment for daring to oppose the winner.
Unfortunately, in this case, the Justice Department was corrupt enough and stupid enough to make their conflict so dramatic that even the press couldn’t ignore it (how in the wold could they think that a meeting with Bill in a private plane at an airport could be secret???)
And then the FBI with their “here is why she is clearly guilty, but no prosecutor would take the case” statement just fanned the flames.
LikeLike
OK, apparently that was too complicated, I’ll try again. SHE. BROKE. THE. LAW. Not just one, multiple felonies. No matter how you try to justify letting her walk it always comes back to one simple and irrefutable point. SHE. BROKE. THE. LAW. And politics has NOTHING to do with any of it. SHE. BROKE. THE. LAW.
LikeLike
Exactly right.
LikeLike
no way should she walk free on this!
about time she and a pile of others got done for their lies cheating n screwing over your citizens
upset the snowflakes a tad?
well maybe they need to see just what their darling really is?
POS in a pantsuit.
LikeLike
hey Willis
check THIS out.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-13/dc-national-guard-chief-fired-days-trump-inauguration-timing-extremely-unusual
LikeLike
The report that I heard on this is that it’s normal for all Presidential appointees to submit a resignation dated the time of the inauguration, and the Trump people were suggesting that he remain in place until later in the day (after the ceremonies), but he apparently feels the need to make this a press event instead.
LikeLike
The story on FOX this morning was that his appointment to the job was to end at 12:00 noon the day Trump is sworn in. He was asked to stay on the job for the rest of the day to complete the security deployment but he refused. Rather than ‘change horses (commanders) in the middle of the stream’ the pentagon chose to replace him before the event. Apparently he has now chosen to complain to the news about being ‘fired’ while skipping the details. If FOX is correct about this (I have no way of verifying) it is just one more ‘Fake News’ story about Trump, probably initiated by the Democrats.
LikeLike
I have complete confidence in the ability of the NCOs who actually run military operations such as this to get the job done. And it is amazing, DoD already had a Field Grade Officer set to assume command, almost as if they “knew” this 65 year old officer was going to retread on January 20th. Eerie, to say the least. I wonder if DoD has someone who can read tarot cards so they can “see” the future!
LikeLike
2hotel,
I agree, the NCO’s pretty much run the military. But, good officers (of all stripes) are trained to account for all foreseeable outcomes before taking action, so I’m not suprised they already had a backup plan..
LikeLike
Can’t agree about “letting Clinton go.” If our democracy cannot handle properly prosecuting official corruption in the highest places, then we have lost it, because corruption will then be acceptable. We’ll be no better than so many other “democracies” around the world and will have lost our moral authority.
Hillary must be properly prosecuted. (Nixon should have been.)
LikeLike
You mean official corruption at high levels is not okay already? What about the fallout from the GFC? No-one above mail-clerk grade lost their job over that, which to me stinks of corruption.
LikeLike
To let her walk free is to say that there are two standards yet I agree that the country does not need further division and distraction. If she walks free and clear, I worry she’ll rise Phoenix-like as there seems to be no sin that is unpardonable by one’s tribe these days. The best course of events in my mind would be for President Elect Trump to signal that he will come after her triggering President Obama to pardon her. I would hope the tar of the pardon would finally put her career to rest and better men/women can ascend the Democratic ranks.
LikeLike
Interesting proposal, to have trump threaten her and obama pardon her in response.
For those who say that letting her off would show that there are two laws, one for the rich and one for the poor, I’m not advocating letting her off. I’m saying, don’t pursue her on the emails. That will drag on forever and will only strengthen the hand of her supporters. It also keeps the issue of the Russians alive and splits the country.
Instead, let the investigations of the Clinton Foundation run their course. The Ukraine donated something like $20 million to the Clinton Foundation. Does anyone think this was because of their generosity?
It is much preferable if she is charged with something she did deliberately (particularly something universally detested like corruption) than something she did through a combination of ignorance, stupidity, and paranoia (private server).
w.
LikeLike
Oh, I think she deliberately had an e-mail server which hid her crimes, I think she deliberately deleted those e-mails when the server was found. She may be ignorant, stupid, and paranoid too. The thing is, she is the proverbial tip of the iceberg, or rather, a whole field of icebergs. Was Whitewater the first? There are so many probable crimes and cover-ups. She always gets away with the crime because she destroys the evidence. If they can’t convict her of the crimes, they should convict her of obstruction of justice. It (corruption) is not just any crime affecting a few people, it’s a crime which destroys the foundation of the nation.
LikeLike
“It is much preferable if she is charged with something she did deliberately (particularly something universally detested like corruption) than something she did through a combination of ignorance, stupidity, and paranoia (private server).”
Willis,
First of all, thanks and congrats on your blog.
Wouldn’t you agree that Clinton’s use of the email server was part of the Clinton Foundation corruption machine?
Was the private server not a deliberate strategy meant to insulate her pay-for-play state department activities (clean FOIA trail) from the money-laundering Clinton foundation?. It wasn’t stupidity, ignorance, or blind paranoia that motivated her. It wasn’t an accident. She had specific intent, just as a rapist who “accidentally falls” into his victim does. The server didn’t just fall into her basement and set itself up. Negligence didn’t put it there.
Shouldn’t any investigation into the Clinton Foundation also include investigation into her emails? Or to put it another way, wouldn’t that investigation be more fruitful if it includes the email server? I’ve just always seen the server and foundation as two sides of the same $3 coin.
LikeLike
Thanks for the good words, Rob.
Yes, the server was part of the whole deal. But I do NOT want to bring more attention to the Russian nonsense by trying to establish the trail from her server to the Russians.
Plus, I don’t think she is unpatriotic (just criminally careless) about the US and security. But I do think she is corrupt to the bone.
Best case for me? Quick investigation of the Foundation, bring charges against her, Trump pardons her. Win – win – win. Last thing we need is Hillary penning doleful missives from her jail cell …
But all of this is just a sideshow distracting from what we need to do. We need to unite people. A necessary sideshow, perhaps, but a sideshow nonetheless.
Thanks for your comment,
w.
LikeLike
She has broken multiple laws, just in regards to her time as SecState, and it is not political in the least. She. Broke. The. Law. Politics is irrelevant. Why she did it is irrelevant. The law is all that matters.
As for the Clinton Foundation and all the laws broken in its criminal operations, again, no politics involved. They. Broke. The. Law. And again, why they did it is irrelevant. Either the law applies to ALL Americans or it applies to none. Period. Full stop.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And if this information was being released one week before her inauguration, would it be more divisive?
I am also surprised that Sid Blumenthal, with all that has gone on regarding Hillary’s email, would still have any trace of this on his computer/computers.
I say, let the prosecutorial chips fall as they may.
LikeLike
I agree with you; I said the same thing to friends when President Ford gave a blanket pardon to Nixon, even though I was not a Nixon fan and was happy to see him go.
The difference is that in 1974 Nixon had the good sense to go quietly and keep his mouth shut. I see no signs the Clintonistas will do the same — quite the contrary.
So, in the “best defence is a good offense” spirit, I believe we should take every opportunity to remind people just how bad the Clinton Gang was and how incompetent they were protecting their own dirty secrets. What a relief we didn’t entrust them with any more of ours.
LikeLike
Leon Brozyna:
This is a fine suggestion; it would be the presidential thing to do. I believe the pardon protocol is the president offers it and the pardonee must accept it, which carries an implicit admission.
So Trump’s first action in office should be to cancel, repeal, void, etc., several hundred Obama executive orders. His second action should be to grant Clinton a pardon. His third action should be to clear out all the holdover Obama DOJ appointees (protocol is they all should have submitted their resignations in advance; Trump only needs to accept them). It would then be about time to head out to his first inaugural ball.
LikeLike
Carlyle says, in his “History of Frederick the Great”, book ii. chap. vii. that this saying of Alfonso X of Castille about Ptolemy’s astronomy, is still remembered by mankind, this and no other of his many sayings!
LikeLike
” I believe the pardon protocol is the president offers it and the pardonee must accept it, which carries an implicit admission.”
How about rather than a pardon, assuming Obama has not already issued one, she is charged with and allowed to plead guilty to a felony, receive a rather hefty fine and several years of probation. This way she won’t have to serve jail time, but will still have a felony against her record and would be prevented from holding office or obtaining another security clearance.
LikeLike
Might be a good way out, except for one part: Hillary would never accept these conditions. According to her, she has never broken a law, never lied, never granted or received favors, never pandered nor pathologically circumvented anything she didn’t like, and never received money that wasn’t legal. She would never accept a pardon as to do so would admit she had done something wrong, which, according to her rules, she hasn’t.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“A trial of Hillary Clinton will only divide the US further.” Actually, media will further divide America, with or without a trial for Hillary. They have a vested interest in dividing the citizens of America along as many fracture lines as possible. That is the only way they can keep their Party, the Democrat Party, and themselves relevant. And wealthy.
An example, involving weather and media. Here in western PA/WV/OH on Monday last all the TV weather stuporgeniuses had whipped the residents of our region into a state of terror about icy road conditions. True, in some areas there were for a short period icy road conditions, mainly south and east of Pittsburgh. My mother-in-law had an early doctor appointment on Tuesday. I arrived to drive her there and she was highly agitated, nearly in tears, because of the “deadly” condition of the roads, according to the a$$wipes on TV news. Roads in our local area were fine, I have an AWD vehicle with good winter treads and am a good driver. No matter. She was and remained terrified that at any moment every thing was going to be covered in ice and we would die in a fiery crash, because the idiots on TV had spent 2 days proclaiming that was going to happen. This scenario applies to all news media, on all subjects. EVERYTHING is sensationalized and blown out of all proper perspective and proportion, all for advertising and to push certain agendas. This is the elephant in the room we have got to defeat.
Thus endeth the rant. Thank you very muchly.
LikeLike
Possibly more likely that President Obama will pardon her in the upcoming week before the Inaugration?
LikeLike
I always think that a (pre-trial; pre-conviction) pardon is a subliminal signal that you have soemthing to be pardoned for. Just sayin’.
LikeLike
It would be nice to just put this (and her) behind us but there is such a thing as equality under the law. Sandy Berger got away with stealing and destroying documents during the Clinton administration with only a slap on the wrist. Scooter Libby got sent to jail for supposedly lying to the FBI. Clinton lied to Congress! There is a young sailor innocently took a picture in his sub and is now being tried for it. Why does Clinton get off (again) for her acts? I even wonder what she might have done when she was Senator.
The real investigation in my mind is with the FBI. Who gives blanket immunity to witnesses who may have been complicit in the destruction of evidence without getting some proffers of what they’re going to testify to? Even if Clinton isn’t indicted whoever ran BleachBit destroyed evidence knowing that it was part of an investigation. Either they were the most incompetent investigators in the history of the FBI or someone was implicit in a coverup. Everyone’s after Comey for the letter to Congress but where’s the outrage at this?
LikeLiked by 1 person
It will be an interesting race: can the administration get Hellary jailed before the Clintonistas get Trump assassinated?
“according to the FBI report, they were hacked. Copied by at least three governments, two of them “unfriendly” and one “friendly”.” But every hacking expert I read seems to say that it is impossible to tell who has hacked an account if the hacker is at all expert. So my guess is that the FBI knows that Russia, China, and Israel try to hack everything, so it just pointed the finger at them rather than admit that it has no evidence that’s worth much.
If GCHQ didn’t hack Hellary’s server I want some of my tax money back. I dare say that my French cousin feels the same if the Deuxième Bureau (whatever it might be called now) didn’t hack her either.
LikeLike
“A trial of Hillary Clinton will only divide the US further”. I agree with you on extending the hand with the dove in it, but if she is not held accountable, it only extends the Clinton enmity ad nauseum.
The litany of reasons why she shouldn’t be above the law (the sailor who was jailed for taking an inside shot of his vessel to show his son, Petraeus’ whole side show, evidence missing in a trial case that showed up in the Clinton occupied White House years later, as examples) when added to the several direct breaking of the laws of the Department of State and Federal Government, make it mandatory to prosecute her. Tangentially there are other laws broken in relation to these events, such as obstruction of justice, willful destruction of evidence, and accepting emoluments from foreign governments.
That the Clinton Foundation has never been forced to undergo an external audit by a totally independent auditor team is a sham in and of itself. There are enough connections between “donations” to the Foundation following requests from individuals, foreign countries, and businesses granted approval by the then Secretary of State Clinton to pique the interest of even the most neophyte investigator. A penny by penny track of the disbursements of the Foundation since day one is mandatory. I’d guess that the very least that would come from such in depth investigation would be an indictment for tax evasion of both Clintons.
Yes, it would continue the divisiveness, which will go on no matter if she is just let out to pasture. Somehow I feel the interregnum now beginning will be interrupted with some form of Clinton getting back into play. Narcissists like both Clintons crave the power that amorality and corruption bring. She should be held as accountable as any executive that took down a company by breaking laws and playing by his own. Nobody is above the law.
By not prosecuting her, she remains untouched, and unaccountable for willful and wanton bypassing any number of rules, regulations, and laws. Not to mention the boundaries of morality, shame, and conscience.
Either clear her or put her behind bars. End the ongoing stench of the Clinton era.
LikeLike
I understand this latest batch differently. The fault lies with whoever sent clearly ex ante (not ex post) classified info to Blumenthal. It has to be ex ante classified to merit prosecution. There are two classes of info that are automatically classified without designation thatnwould also be ex ante. Then you need to know the sender. Not clear from redactions whether Hillary was the sender. Murkier is if she directed staff to send. Very complex to prove on a case by case basis. My sense is the email thing died with Comey. The Clinton Foundation pay to play investigation is supposed to be ongoing, with the NY FBI and US attorney chafing under DoJ restrictions. That could change.
LikeLike
Assuming one or more are ex ante would not someone, either her or one of her minion, still have to take the fall? I doubt anyone would believe that those emails walked themselves over to his machine. There had to be some way they tied the emails to her or they would not have released them.
LikeLike
ristvan I think you are on the money with that comment. All of it. There are at least three investigations on-going and two of them are by the NYC Police, apparently not happy with how the Big-Ups have been handling things so far. It will make a great TV series.
Comey saved his butt by re-opening the investigation, which swung the election at least partially, because of NYPD discomfiture and pending release of the news if he didn’t. The latest batch released contains additional pointing fingers. How many others are there? Just to have so many State Dept emails passing through a Yahoo account and Wiener’s laptop tells you, alone, that there are more holes in the Clinton security system than a screen door on a submarine.
The ‘forgive and forget’ possibility is going to be interesting. If the writing on the wall is clear writ enough, HRC might take the offer and give up on politics rather than do time in a minimum security facility.
Didn’t Podesta also have many of these messages on his hardware? How on earth will the damage be controlled if they don’t know who got copies of what?
LikeLike
Maybe we don’t need Edward Snowden or Chelsea Manning after all.
LikeLike
I am all for the title of this post. Don’t let the investigation die. Let Hillary turn on the spit of her own devising for months, years if need be. There are sure to be more shoes to drop. Let her be tried in the court of public opinion if not in actual court.
This needs to be rubbed in the noses of all those who supported the criminal and incompetent HRC in the primary and who still claim that a popular vote majority should suddenly prevail over the long established electoral procedure. Sending Hillary to prison will make clear how wrong they were. Maybe a few of these will be so embarrassed by their blindness to her flaws that they will sit out the next elections.
Obama’s got to be pissed that Hillary blew the chance to preserve his legacy. He was reportedly not a clinton fan anyway. I don’t expect a pardon before January 20.
LikeLike
When the current Obama-led obstructionist DOJ is gone, along with about 500 of his Executive Orders cancelled, maybe the FBI can be let loose to do what is supposed to do by law. It’s hard to recommend an indictment of a criminal the POTUS is protecting every inch of the way. The irony is, were it not for his flailing around the narcissist world trying to find something to leave as his legacy that is not a failure to everyone wearing clothes, he would like to see her in ball and chains. Everything Obama has ever done was to self-fulfill his pseudo-intellectual cravings. He surely succeeded at one thing, only: he was the first black POTUS. That he was a failure will or will not be appended depending upon the the level of PC of the writer.
LikeLike
Judicial Watch have been developing a case against Hillary Clinton on behalf of the American people. Let the evidence to support that case be released where it is feasible given national security considerations, the public will see the guilt and demand whatever sanction is deemed appropriate. This frees the political administration of Mr Trump of any accusations of vindictiveness while preventing any notion that it is possible to commit crimes on this scale and escape the consequences.
LikeLike
It’s amazing how quickly the Dems can flip from “How dare you question the US Intelligence Agencies” to “the FBI has zero credibility”
LikeLike
Someone mentioned Bush was an idiot for believing Intel about Iraq and WMDs.
But then, Trump’s an idiot for not believing Intel about sophisticated computer hacking.
Democrats…
LikeLike
Surely the objection to W is that he told the intelligence people what he wanted them to tell him, then they told him it.
I don’t know how good the evidence for that is, but the evidence for that procedure in the case of Tony Blair is conclusive.
LikeLike
The funniest part is Iraq did have WMDs, used them against Iran and against the Kurds inside Iraq. US military found binary artillery and rocket munitions, handling equipment, chemical component stockpiles, aerial chemweapon dispersal systems(fixed wing and rotary) and the equipment for their servicing and loading. Tons of raw uranium(which was shipped to Canada after much ballywhooing) and processing/enriching equipment. The United Nations was dragged, kicking and screaming and rending their garments, into a public admission of all this.
The fact Iraqi military did not field or use any of it against the invading forces is a sign that senior officers wanted the Ba’athists and Saddam gone as much as anyone else, not an indication they did not exist. Since we and others found all that “stuff” it clearly did exist. And lets us not even get into the tons and tons of munitions, chemicals and equipment shipped into Syria in the months prior to the invasion, since we all know that nobody in Syria has used any chemweapons on anyone else.
LikeLike
There have been many articles about finding WMD in Iraq after the fall of Saddam. I remember one written by a US military office who found all sorts of what anyone with a brain would call WMD and was told not to make it public under threat of punishment. ALso see Frontpage Mag 6/20/2014 article where it states “sarin, mustard gas, and nerve agent VX were found in quantity at al-Muthanna. Which at that writing was in the hands of ISIS, Obama’s JV team.
LikeLike
Over the years I have known several individuals involved in inspecting Iraqi facilities for compliance with terms from First Gulf War and others deployed to Iraq after 2003, 3 of them directly involved in finding and documenting Iraqi weapons programs and materials. It is really sad that the “no WMDs”and “Bush lied” drum beat continues on.
LikeLike
All it does is point out the power of the POTUS then ruling to suppress the truth. Plain and simple. The facts are there. Saddam had WMD – ask how many Iranians that were disfigured by it, not to mention Iraquis; and, it was uncovered multiple times after Saddam was caught and Iraq was done for.
LikeLike
Why is it that the evidence of the US Military finding poison WMD at Al-Muthanna after Saddam was ousted never made public? In Frontpage Mag, 6/20/2014, “sarin, mustard gas, and nerve agent VX” were found and is now under control of ISIS. Why did this not make the front pages 24/7 for a year?
LikeLike
2hotel9 January 15, 2017 at 7:54 am
Thanks, Hotel, but that’s fake news. From FactCheck, here’s their money quote:
More at the link,
w.
LikeLike
Yep, US military found uranium in Iraq, it got shipped to Canada. Uranium that was known of before invasion and uranium that was imported after 1991. Saddam had multiple, ongoing WMD programs covered over by Oil For Food and other “aid” scams. That it all came to nothing was not from a lack of trying on the Ba’athist Party’s part.
I rather lean towards Federation of American Scientists on such matter, FactCheck is way too cozy with Democrat Party and Progressive/Leftist side of the balance for me.
LikeLike
I agree with you that going after a prior president or candidate for probable transgressions is terribly disruptive, however so is allowing same to get by with it as a precedent for future bent leaders, doubly so, in the effect on citizen’s trust.
Perhaps we could have it both ways: having first pardoned them, investigate the Hillaries to the full light of day, then if substantial criminality is shown, penalize their lieutenants, the necessary accomplices to their transgressions. Put away the Blumenthals and Nussbaums (probably a couple of years in a federal country club) as a message to future poodles, with their chief undergoing the gauntlet of being called to testify in the underlings’ trials as well as bearing the shame of having been pardoned.
LikeLike
pete wrote:
I’ve never seen evidence that either Hillary or Bill are capable of shame. Perhaps someone knows of some evidence that I may have overlooked.
LikeLike
Neither Clinton even knows the definition of shame. Probably the most amoral and unethical pair of congenital liars as a match in history. Nothing normal applies to them.
LikeLike
Found this wandering about the net:
“It is a misfortune, inseparable from human affairs, that public measures are rarely investigated with that spirit of moderation which is essential to a just estimate of their real tendency to advance or obstruct the public good; and that this spirit is more apt to be diminished than prompted, by those occasions which require an unusual exercise of it.” —James Madison (1788)
With so many warning, so well laid out, one wonders how “we the people” keep letting them screwing it up.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Philby, Maclean, Burgess, Blunt,the Rosenbergs…..Clinton (et al). Seems like a continuum. Prosecution should follow, regardless. Society will survive it. Society may even benefit from it.
(Note: the only differentiation seems to be that only Clinton did it for money and power; the rest did from conviction)
LikeLike
Investigate, prosecute those that should be and apply the appropriate punishment for everyone found guilty. This nation is divided and it’s partly because corruption has been given a pass for years now. It definitely sends the wrong message if Trump and the Justice Department look the other way on this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, if she and her ilk would just go away and stop their destructive behavior… But that malignancy isn’t going to disappear on its own, so it’s time to remove it from the body politic despite the cost. The opposition to Democrat malfeasance has been too tepid for too long and the nation suffers for it.
LikeLike
Prosecute Hillary and all of the others involved. Set the right precedent for any future similar transgressions.
LikeLike
The business as usual entire political system was about to be continued until Trump upset the applecart. None of the feckless elected do-nothings, on both sides, wanted their sinecures disturbed, and the elites knew they had to maintain their own version of the 1%ers to keep it going. Trump has just shattered all that. The time to make a clean sweep is now. Prosecute both Clintons for everything they never dared do; go after all the illegal things Obama did; and release the hard truths. It won’t be pretty, but the only way to stop cancer, if it can be stopped, is to cut it out, all of it, before it becomes unmanageable. We have that option for the first time in about a century.
LikeLike
Far too much wrongdoing has taken place to let anyone slide on the breaking of laws. The foundation will be their downfall, not emails or servers. Let the division complete the cycle that starteday 8 years ago. It must in order to start the healing process. Let the snowflakes melt accordingly.
LikeLike
“The investigation that wouldn’t die” all began when Bill Clinton made the presidency of the USA into a vehicle for corruption not seen for decades and further ruined by the complete lack of morals and inability to stop his sexual perversion. Division has been simmering ever since the Civil War, when we were about as deeply divided as we are now. The combination of the congenital lying, new scandal a day, pandering and nest-feathering reached new heights with the Clinton mismanagement of the country, aided and strongly abetted by his even more plotting wife. For three decades they have skated and dodged and denied their way around lies and outright unlawful activities. It is time to put an end to them. We had to resort to war to sort out the last inequity in the country. The Clinton tinderbox needs to snuffed out.
LikeLike
Let me repeat and clarify something I said upthread.
For those who say that letting her off would show that there are two laws, one for the rich and one for the poor, I’m not advocating letting her off. I’m saying, don’t pursue her on the emails. That will drag on forever and will only strengthen the hand of her supporters. It also keeps the issue of the Russians alive, and splits the country. Do we want to talk about email security forever?
Instead, let the investigations of the Clinton Foundation run their course. The Ukraine donated something like $20 million to the Clinton Foundation. Does anyone think this was because of their inherent generosity?
It is much preferable if Hillary is charged with something she did deliberately (particularly something universally detested like corruption) than something she did through a combination of ignorance, stupidity, and paranoia (private server). Focus on the big stuff, let the small stuff slide …
w.
LikeLike
When the private server issue first broke and shortly thereafter the questionable handling of classified material, I thought Republicans were chasing the wrong rabbit. They went for the one they thought would be easier to catch — the classified emails — because of all the very strict laws that were clearly broken. I thought they ignored the much meatier rabbit: why she set her private email system up in the first place and insisted on using it for official business. Clearly she was doing things she did not want revealed to the public, State Department professionals or even her nominal boss President Obama.
So I completely agree with you here. Forget the classified emails and follow the money trail with the foundation. That was the original sin and the whole reason for the private server. The classified materials were mostly just carelessness.
LikeLike
I think the congenital liar did in fact set it up because she thought she could circumvent the system, but more than likely the bottom line is it just made it easier for her, she thought, to funnel all her stuff into one place. She is so out of it her own self-made rules to make her life the way she wants it would not have given a thought to being hacked and as to illegaility she has demonstrated over and over those areas mean nothing to her, So she just flaunts them, and then lies about them if she is caught. She never expects to be caught, because in her mind she is doing nothing wrong,
LikeLike
Let us not forget the despicable leaders of the Democrats who defend and protect the Clintons. A far cry from the Republicans who went to Nixon to pressure him to resign before he was impeached. Here we are again but now we have Republicans who are incensed at the probable hacking by the Russians but seem oblivious to the contents of the hacking.
LikeLike
Hillary is not ignorant or stupid.
I don’t think she is paranoid.
I do believe she is corrupt to the bone and knew exactly what she was doing all the way along(Bill as well).
She should be prosecuted to the hilt. IMHO.
LikeLike
Absolutely. Both Clintons are very bright with good minds that have, unfortunately, been warped over time.
There is a ton of evidence in all the scandals that have come to light that they are the prime movers in breaking and bending laws. They are the classic examples of the emperor without any clothes. Their unbridled narcissism mixed with poor ol’ boy redneck and elite condescension had yielded a pair from hell.
Removing the emotion and verbiage, there must be at least a dozen indictable offenses for them both.
They need to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law by an unbiased, independent body,
LikeLike
I still think the Clinton Foundation is the weak spot in the hull that will sink all of the Clintons. Preet Bharara has his sights on that organization, and he is both methodical and relentless. If there is corruption to be uncovered, Preet is the guy to find it. Just look at what he’s already done in New York… If Cuomo gets out of that as simply an unindicted co-conspirator, he’ll be thanking his lucky stars.
LikeLike
I agree. The Foundation is where the major malfeasance is, and the major evidence of said malfeasance. The homebrew server is a side issue.
w.
LikeLike
The Foundation should be an easy mark if it is really followed from each penny in to each penny out with matching approvals by SOS Clinton or income derived by either Clinton. Even the legally required 990 forms point out the glaring weaknesses: the 2013 990 showed less than 5% of the millions that came in made it to legal recipients.
LikeLike
I don’t want to see this pathetic old reprobate in jail generating untold and unending sympathy in the “emotions are truth” squads. I do want to see all of the underlings who helped in this investigated, indicted, fined and jailed. That would be a gentle reminder of all future helpers that it’s them and not the big cheese who will suffer when the truth is inevitably discovered. I also want to see a detailed investigation of exactly what happened and I want to see it widely published so everyone knows exactly what happens regularly in the swamp our Federal Government has become.
LikeLike
Works for me …
w.
LikeLike
Disagree. Like Bernie Madoff, the leaders and the toadies must all share the same fate. Wanton breaking of laws never stops until the leaders and top lieutenants are removed. Witness the Mafia.
LikeLike
Willis: Yes, let her go. But make her promise to stay gone. And to STFU.
LikeLike
Yes, let her go, into the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and that will shut her the f**k up.
LikeLike