Yesterday, FBI Director James Comey delivered his non-indictment indictment of Hillary Clinton.
After outlining in damning detail the case against Ms. Clinton, which called for, nay, demanded, an indictment and prosecution for mishandling classified information, Comey lamely called off the dogs and said the FBI wouldn’t even so much as recommend an indictment to the hopelessly compromised attorney general Loretta Lynch.
Comey’s press conference was nothing less than the opening statement in a case he wishes he could prosecute. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the state will prove beyond any reasonable doubt that Ms. Clinton sent or received over 110 emails containing classified information using multiple unsecure servers, which emails were marked classified at the time she handled them.
“The state will prove that she handled no less than 58 email chains on her unsecure servers which contained top secret information in violation of federal law. The state will prove that the FBI recovered thousands of work-related emails which Ms. Clinton falsely claimed she had turned over the FBI.
“The state will prove that in all respects, Ms. Clinton was grossly and criminally negligent in her handling of classified information. The state will prove that hostile actors likely gained access to the private commercial e-mail accounts of people with whom Secretary Clinton was in regular contact. We will demonstrate that in so doing, Ms. Clinton risked exposing highly classified information to our nation’s enemies.
“When you have heard all the evidence, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you will see that you have no alternative but to convict Ms. Clinton and send her to prison for ten years. Thank you.”
Comey’s reputation is that of a straight shooter, an incorruptible public official who simply follows the rule of law and follows the evidence wherever it leads. Certainly, we will hear similar encomiums ad nauseum from Hillary as the campaign proceeds.
However, his shameful prosecution of Martha Stewart for unproved and unprovable insider trading raises questions in the minds of neutral observers about exactly how principled Mr. Comey is. Ms. Stewart spent time behind bars for not committing a crime, while Hillary, who did commit numerous crimes, will not.
Because the evidence Comey laid out is so compelling, it’s virtually impossible to believe Comey was not ordered by somebody above him in the food chain to let Hillary skate. Perhaps delivering his opening statement in the form of a press conference was a singular act of defiance on his part, an effort to protect what is left of his conscience and reputation.
Perhaps he wanted the nation to know that Hillary, although she will never spend a day in a courtroom, is guilty as sin. If Comey had followed the law and the evidence wherever it led, he would have concluded the press conference not by collapsing in a heap but by calling for her prosecution. Instead, he folded like a cheap Bedouin tent in a stiff desert breeze.
Back in December of 2015, when the administration was trying to get its story straight on its narrative that there was no connection between Islam and the San Bernardino massacre, Mr. Comey was apparently the only non-compliant member of the team. At one point, sources say, President Obama loomed over a sitting James Comey and demanded to know “whose side” he was on.
Well, I guess now we know.
