It looks like Hillary Clinton’s chance of going to the Big House just got a lot better (or a lot worse) depending on how you look at it.
The uproar created by the “unplanned” meeting between Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Clinton apparently prompted the Attorney General to agree to accept the guidance of the FBI in the Clinton e-mail investigation. According to the New York Times Lynch said, “…She would accept whatever prosecutors and the F.B.I. director decide on charges related to Hillary Clinton’s e-mail server.” Since FBI Director James Comey is universally regarded as above board, this cannot be good news for Clinton.
While we are on the subject of the Clinton e-mail server, let’s clear up a few things. The first is that the assertion by Hillary Clinton that she never intended to send or receive classified information through her private server is utterly irrelevant to the factual question of whether she violated the law. In this case intent only comes into play with respect to sentencing, not guilt or innocence.
The law in question is USC 18 §793, which says in part:
“(f) Whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, note, or information, relating to the national defense, (1) through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, or to be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, or (2) having knowledge that the same has been illegally removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of its trust, or lost, or stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, and fails to make prompt report of such loss, theft, abstraction, or destruction to his superior officer—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.”
It is crystal clear that through gross negligence (1) some of Hillary Clinton’s files relating to national defense were removed from their proper place of custody and (2) it happened with her permission. After all, she ordered it, and the guy who set up the system is now busy asserting his Fifth Amendment rights. Neither did she report this set-up to her superior (President Obama) as she was required to by law. These violations alone (ignoring for the time being the long list of lesser potential violations) could earn her fines and imprisonment “…not more than ten years, or both”.
As it turns out, the situation is actually getting worse. According to press reports, the Attorney General met with Bill Clinton in a private off-the-record meeting in an airplane at a Phoenix airport. Lynch claimed it was merely a social meeting and they just talked about grandkids. Come on. A junior assistant district attorney knows better than to have a private meeting with the target of a criminal investigation his office is conducting.
Accordingly, Judicial Watch is now calling for an investigation of Loretta Lynch. Among other things, they cite Executive Order 12674 as modified by E.O. 12731, which reads in part: “…Employees shall endeavor to avoid any actions creating the appearance that they are violating the law or the ethical standards promulgated pursuant to this order”. In addition they cite the Department of Justice regulations that specify the circumstances that disqualify Justice Department employees from participating in a criminal investigation when they have a personal or political relationship with the subject of the investigation.
And if that is not enough, another 165 pages of Clinton e-mails surfaced that were not previously turned over to the State Department. And long time aide Huma Abedin, under oath in a legal proceeding brought by Judicial Watch, said that Clinton did not want “…e-mails on her private computer server to be accessible to anybody”. All of which strongly suggests that Clinton’s set-up was specifically designed to avoid the record-keeping requirements that are the duty of the Secretary of State.
It should be pretty clear to roughly everybody in the world that Hillary Clinton is caught in a trap of her own making. She violated the criminal law and is in the midst of a massive effort to cover it up, contain the political damage and avoid prison. The only question remaining is which aide will be the first to be sacrificed to protect the chief culprit.
JFB
