Hillary Clinton. Photo courtesy of Politico.
Summary: The Director of the FBI stated that the bureau will not recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton.
Tuesday began a new rough patch for Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton. Although she escaped an FBI recommendation for indictment for her email deletion scandal, she received a scathing personal indictment from the head of the FBI and was the immediate subject of numerous think pieces above elitism and the law.
Additionally, Clinton inspired the trending Twitter hashtag #MoreTrustedThanHillary, a comical but still blistering critique of the public’s negative perception of her.
While Secretary of State, Clinton used her personal email account to conduct government business, and she was said to have deleted almost 30,000 emails. Her lack of judgment has been a major talking point for her Republican opponent, Donald Trump; and on Tuesday, FBI Director James Comey weighed in on the matter. Although the bureau did not recommend a formal indictment to the Department of Justice, Comey went in on her character, for at least ten minutes of his 15 on air.
During the televised statement, Comey passionately dug into the Clinton family, implying that they always acted above the law. Furthermore, he said the way Clinton handled classified material was “extremely careless” and opened herself up to hackers. He stated that the seasoned politician should have known that a private email server was no place for sensitive material.
According to CNN, Comey’s colleagues were unaware that the Republican FBI leader would lambast Clinton the way he did. The Justice Department did not give an additional statement, and Comey’s was the official one from the FBI. His scathing comments drew ire from some who stated he is wielding too much power and others who said the bureau should have recommended the indictment. Either way, Comey is being scrutinized as much as Clinton at this point.
“Jim Comey is the final arbiter in determining the appropriateness of Hillary Clinton’s conduct. That’s not his job,” a former Department of Justice spokesman Matthew Miller said on CNN.
Clinton has previously acknowledged that her actions in this email scandal were a “mistake.” Not only did she use a personal address, but her camp had also set up servers in her home. According to NPR, while government accounts have also been hacked, that responsibility was on them. Once Clinton had made the decision to go private with her communications, the responsibility was on her.
NPR added that this email scandal has “steadily eroded views of her character” and that “the majority of Americans see her as not “honest and trustworthy.” The public’s distrust of her has created an interesting election—a choice of who people dislike the least.
Prominent conservative blogger Matt Walsh of The Blaze wrote that the FBI’s Tuesday decision was death to Lady Justice, a sign that the privileged can do whatever they want.
“When it is explicitly announced and made public that the wealthiest and most elite and most liberal are indeed above the law, the charade of “law” cannot continue. There is no law. We are living under the rule of men, not of law,” Walsh said.
Others of both parties believed that Comey and the FBI were fair. For instance, conservative John Siegler defended Comey.
“Comey explained his position very clearly and without any obvious bias. He seemed to be extremely well-informed of the issues of the case. He made numerous statements condemning Hillary Clinton that could not have made his boss happy and which made it apparent, contrary to prior statements from Donald Trump, that ‘the fix’ was not in. His decision to not recommend an indictment seems based on facts, logic and precedent, just as any conservative should hope it would be, regardless of the subject,” Siegler said.
Clinton’s presidential opponent Donald Trump was swift to add his public opinion, despite having his own drama which includes allegations of fraud and underage rape.
“The system is rigged. General Petraeus got in trouble for far less. Very very unfair! As usual, bad judgment,” Trump tweeted.
Clinton’s campaign responded to the news that they were “pleased” with the FBI’s decision.
Do you think Clinton should have been recommended for indictment? Let us know in the comments below.