Trump Inquiries Remain Politically Charged, Despite Special Counsel, Mueller, Obstruction Charges
“The Trump-Russia scandal is now officially the biggest nothing-burger in American history,” the New York Times declared on March 20, 2017. “It is also the biggest nothing–burger in the history of federal criminal justice, or so it seems.”
The New York Times, and most media outlets, reported on former FBI Director James Comey’s decision to publicly announce his decision not to recommend prosecution of Hillary Clinton for what was perceived as her mishandling of classified information and mishandling of a private email server. The New York Times reported:
“With all else at stake, Mr. Comey had to weigh the possibility that the next election would determine who would be the next President. At first, Mr. Comey hesitated, weighing the risk of his having to endure more humiliation and suffering more abuse in response to criticism and questions. Ultimately, he chose to step forward.
Here the facts. When the emails were discovered in the State Department’s systems, they were not discovered by the Secretary of State or by any other department clerk, but by a member of the Clinton staff, a State Department employee who later pleaded guilty to mishandling classified information and, more important, to lying about it.”
[snip]
“Comey did not know about the newly discovered emails when he concluded his letter to the Deputy Attorney General. Nor did he know about the former secretary’s decision to use a homebrew server to store and transmit highly classified information, or about her decision to delete a small fraction of them.
There was no evidence that any of these decisions involved classified information. Nor was there evidence that they were intended to conceal government wrongdoing or improper behavior.”
The New York Times also reported:
“The new disclosures about Mr. Comey’s decision to publicly announce it came on March 20, 2017, on the same day that the FBI’s investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email server came to a close.
The FBI’s investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s private e-mail practices went on and on; the new emails did not emerge until the summer of 2016, after the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.”
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