Sunday, July 03, 2016

Hillary Clinton... Truth, Lies - At This Point, What Difference Does It Make?

By Douglas V. Gibbs
AuthorSpeakerInstructorRadio Host

Legacy.  Narrative.  Ideology.  Everything seems to matter but the truth.  The investigators received no help from the Democrats.  No help from the White House.  Hillary Clinton's list of guilt is longer than Santa's Naughty List, but as we enter Independence Day weekend the best we can do during the FBI's questioning of her is roll our eyes.

The liberal left Democrats thinks we need to forget Benghazi and anything to do with deleted emails.  The truth doesn't matter.  Move along.  Nothing to see here.

The goal should be to get to the truth, and the FBI is creating an illusion that they are attempting to do just that, but we really don't know if their questioning of Hillary Clinton on Saturday was honest, or just about politics.  The questions on Saturday, July 2, 2016 were simply over emails.  Did Hillary Clinton or her aides break the law by corresponding through a private email server set up for her use as secretary of state against the law?

Hillary gave in voluntarily, and spent over three and a half hours at the FBI headquarters in Washington to answer investigator's questions.  Did she act in a manner outside the law?  Did she, or her staff members, participate in criminal mishandling of classified information?

As the presidential election moves along, and Clinton holds on to the Democrat Party lead, one has to ask how strange it must be, and how out of control our country must be, that we have a leading presidential candidate that is under criminal investigation by the FBI.  Since when does belonging behind bars lead to a role in leading a country. . . in places other than the third world, anyway?  With Democrats, it is almost like acting unlawfully can be a step-up.

Clinton's opponent has been echoing the thoughts of a vast number of Americans.  Donald Trump wrote on Twitter, “It is impossible for the FBI not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton.  What she did was wrong!”

Hillary's attitude is that this is just a minor irritation.  She says she's done nothing wrong, and this is some kind of Republican Party head hunt.

The investigation regarding her emails emerged after last year's investigation into her role hiding information regarding the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, which led to the deaths of four Americans at the American compound in that country.

Since this has all started, Clinton has changed from saying she was allowed to do what she did regarding a private email server to being apologetic for it, and indicating that it was all just a mistake.

The only question that we should be asking is if Clinton is in denial, or is she a purposeful and deceptive criminal that knew exactly what she was doing?

Cooperation, and a refusal to cooperate, seems to change quickly.  Her defense sometimes seems to be quite eclectic.  Cooperation only matters when the Democrats are pretty sure it will not hurt Hillary's campaign. Well, until immunity is granted, anyway. The staffer who set up the server, Bryan Pagliano, was granted limited immunity from prosecution by the Justice Department and has also cooperated with federal investigators. The FBI as a matter of course seeks to interview individuals central to an investigation before concluding its work, with Clinton posing as the grand finale.

Under federal law it is a crime to “knowingly” mishandle classified information outside secure government channels or to permit the practice through “gross negligence.”  Despite the argument that none of the emails on Mrs. Clinton's private server were marked classified at the time they were sent or received, Clinton knew they were.  She knew much of that material was considered to be classified because she was Secretary of State, and because she was dealing with classified material intentionally for notorious reasons that I have a feeling may never be known by anyone other than Mrs. Clinton, and the evil actors the emails were meant for the eyes of.

Nonetheless, Clinton continues to spew her false narrative that she "never received nor sent any material that was marked classified."

The outcome of the FBI investigation will hurt her presidential bid, no matter what bares its ugly head.  The investigation, coupled with an anti-establishment fervor, is already hurting Clinton's presidential bid.  Rasmussen, for example, now shows Donald Trump leading over her nationally.

If indicted, the questions about her honesty will be confirmed, and the Clinton Campaign would be pressured to end its presidential bid.  If indicted, Trump would become the presumptive winner in November. . . if he can survive the attack by Never-Trump suicidists at the GOP Convention.  If not indicted, the Democrats and the Obama administration will be accused of playing favorites, and ensuring her narrow escape.  As amazing as this may sound, there will be even less trust in Clinton and the Democrats than ever before, regardless of whether or not there is an indictment.

The stories about the Obama administration’s handling of the case and Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s refusal to hand it over to a special prosecutor while privately meeting with Bill Clinton, hasn't helped.  The image portrayed is that favors are being tossed around faster than a hot potato fresh out of the oven.

The reality is, at least 2,079 emails that Clinton sent or received contained classified material, or at least that's what we know based on a review of emails by the State Department Clinton turned over after she left the department. Most were at the confidential level, which is the lowest level of classification, but a handful were at the top secret level.  And, she has denied that any of them were filled with confidential information that was labeled as such at the time she handled them.

Her email arrangement violated State Department rules.  She did not seek permission for the setup. The emails were routed through a server located in the basement of Clinton’s New York home during her tenure as the nation’s top diplomat from 2009 to 2013. It was set up in the manner that it was by design, and I believe it was with the purposeful intent to share information with evil actors in the world in the hopes that her dealings would never come to the surface - in order to assist her in her monetary and political advancement.  What she did are direct violations of Section 1924 of Title 18, which deals with the unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material, or even the Espionage Act, which makes it a crime for anyone “through gross negligence,” to allow the loss, theft or removal of classified information or fails to promptly report such mishandling to his superior.

If Hillary was a member of the GOP, she would already be behind bars.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary




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