Comey Again?

James Comey's decision to inform Congress that the FBI had discovered emails on a laptop belonging to disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner that may be relevant to the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private server has roiled the presidential campaign with days to go before the election.   His letter provided little details about the emails, leaving the ambiguous discloser subject to interpretation and wild speculation by Trump supporters.  

At a Friday rally, Donald Trump hailed the news as "bigger than Watergate," even though all of the emails may be just copies of those released earlier to the FBI.  Trump has fallen behind Clinton in the polls but now he has an issue to exploit to take attention away from charges of sexual assault that have hurt his campaign in recent weeks.

The Clinton campaign has criticized Comey for breaking with Justice Department protocol by commenting on an ongoing investigation, and doing anything that could be viewed as influencing the election.  A Justice Department official confirmed to the Washington Post that they advised Comey.   "It was conveyed to the FBI, and Comey made an independent decision to alert the Hill," the official said, "He is operating independently of the Justice Department.  And he knows it."  Comey had received sharp criticism last July from Republicans when he announced last July that he recommended that criminal charges not be made against Clinton for her use of a private email server.   Comey is a Republican.  In his letter to Congress, Comey said he feared that word of the newly found emails would leak and suggest a cover-up.

Clinton spoke of the revelations at a Saturday appearance in Daytona, Florida.  "Of course Donald Trump is already making up lies about this," she said.  "He is doing his best to confuse, mislead and discourage the American people."   Clinton campaign manager Robby Mock called on the FBI to release the emails.  "Just get it all out there and the voters can judge for themselves," he said on Fox News Sunday.

Before the disclosers, polls showed the race between Clinton and Trump had been tightening.  Trump has enjoyed the ardent support of his loyalists despite his many gaffes and recent charges of sexual abuse from 12 women.  He was recorded on an NBC's Access Hollywood video talking about sexual abuse.  He later described it as "locker room" talk, and has threatened to sue the women and NBC.  During his campaign, Trump has humiliated his opponents, he has disparaged war heroes, and he has consistently insulted women, Mexicans and Muslims.  Trump has refused to release his tax returns, which is standard practice for recent presidential candidates, and many of his business dealings have faced serious scrutiny.   Trump has fought back by blaming the "dishonest media" for his transgressions.  

Trump has consistently display a lack of understanding of foreign policy.  He has advocated the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the possible dissolution of NATO.  He has often praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a strong leader, he has invited Russian hackers to go after Clinton's emails, and he has claimed he has a secret plan to eliminate ISIS.  He has also attacked fellow Republicans, like House Speaker Paul Ryan, and he has caused a huge rift within the Republican Party.  Recently, he has supported efforts to suppress votes, especially in urban areas that are heavily populated by traditional Democratic voters, like African Americans and Hispanics.  

Both Clinton and Trump have low favorability ratings among a majority of likely American voters.  But, despite her trust issues, and the fact that she should not have used a private email server, Clinton is one of the most experienced candidates to seek the presidency.  Yet the winds of change are blowing heavily in favor of Trump, as they often do after one party holds the White House for two terms.  So even the hint of an additional problem with Clinton's emails can drive independents voters, as well has some soft Clinton supporters, away from the voting booth, while firming up Trump's support with doubtful Republicans.  As Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta observed, "There's no evidence of wrongdoing, no charge of wrongdoing, no indication that this is even about Hillary."  But there may be enough misinterpretation to confuse voters on Election Day.  

As a result, America may elect the least qualified and most unpredictable presidential candidate ever in its history to the White House.   

Extremely Careless Hillary Clinton

The FBI's recommendation that no charges be brought against Hillary Clinton for her handling of email as secretary of state is an important victory for the presumptive Democrat presidential nominee.  However, this finding will not bring an end to Republican criticism of the investigation and of Clinton's lack of trustworthiness.  

FBI Director James Comey said Tuesday that "no reasonable prosecutor" would bring a case against Clinton, but he noted that Clinton and her staff were "extremely careless" in their email use.   Clinton had used a private email server located at her New York residence while she was secretary of state.  A year ago the inspector general for intelligence agencies informed the Justice Department that he had found classified information among emails Clinton had sent and received.  Comey said today that a small number were found to be marked classified at the time they were sent, and such information is not to be sent on an unclassified system.  

The House Select Committee on Benghazi discovered that Clinton was using a private server in their investigation of the attack on an American outpost that resulted in the deaths of four Americans.  Subsequently, Clinton agreed to turn over 30,000 emails from her tenure as secretary of state.  She did not turn over those she deemed as personal.  Ultimately, government agencies determined that several hundred should have been marked classified, including a couple dozen that should have been designated top secret.  In his statement, Comey also said, "We found no additional evidence that any of the additional work-related emails were intentionally deleted in an effort to conceal them."

Clinton's handling of emails has been used by her critics as further evidence that she is not trustworthy.  The FBI's recommendation will now go to the Justice Department for final action.  It is unlikely that the Justice Department will bring charges.  But questions have been raised about the department's independence following President Bill Clinton's awkward meeting last week with Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who subsequently said she would accept the recommendation of the FBI.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump wasted no time to express his reaction on Twitter.  "The system is rigged.  General Patraeus got in trouble for far less.  Very very unfair! As usual, bad judgment," he tweeted.  Moments later he wrote on Twitter, "FBI director said crooked Hillary compromised our national security.  No charges. Wow!  #RiggedSystem."   It is clear that Trump and Republicans will use this finding as an example of the Clintons getting special treatment, and they will continue to attack her on the issue.

Clinton supporters welcomed the findings.  Virginia Senator Tim Kaine told CNN,  "I never believed that this was going to be something in the criminal realm or even close to it."   Nonetheless, the FBI finding that Clinton was extremely careless in her email is very damning.   And Clinton has mishandled the email probe from the very beginning, saying on several occasions that, "I am confident that I never sent or received any information that was classified at the time it was sent and received."  The FBI finding is that she should have known.   

The cloud of controversy surrounding Clinton's email use at the State Department will continue to hang over her campaign for the White House.  She has yet to offer a credible explanation for using a private server while she was secretary of state.  Later this month Democrats will nominate her as their candidate for president.   But, because of her "mistake," as she now calls it, her lack of judgment and trustworthiness will continue to be questioned by Clinton opponents.  

Task Master Bill Clinton

With just over four months to go before the national elections, both Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump are limping into their party's conventions, which will be held later this month.  While it is unlikely that either of their nominations will be derailed, both candidates have been plagued by large unfavorable ratings in opinion polls and many unforced errors.  

Perhaps Clinton's biggest liability is that a majority of likely voters view her as not trustworthy, even more so than Trump.   Her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state has hung like a dark cloud over her campaign.  The FBI is investigating the matter, and there are reports that they will interview Clinton this weekend at her home in Washington.  This could signal that the FBI is close to wrapping up their probe, one that could lead to the indictment of Clinton or some of her former department staffers.

Clinton has mishandled the email matter right from the get go.  To make matters worse, former President Bill Clinton decided to meet with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on her government aircraft at the Phoenix airport.  He delayed his flight out of the city when he learned that the attorney general would soon be arriving.  What was the former president thinking?   Lynch already had been asked by Republicans to recuse herself from the FBI investigation into his wife's emails, the findings of which the department would bring to the attorney general for the final decision on whether to bring charges.  

When asked Friday at the Aspen Ideas Festival what she wished former Attorney General Eric Holder had told her, she replied, "Where the lock on the plane door was."   Because Lynch is a political appointee she has previously indicated she would accept the FBI findings.  She stated that clearly on Friday, noting, "I understand that my meeting on the plane with former President Clinton could give another reason to have questions and concerns."  She described the Clinton meeting, which lasted a half-hour, as social, adding, "I certainly wouldn't do that again." 

President Clinton's blunder casts another shadow over his wife's campaign at a time when she was trying to open up a lead over Trump.  Recent national polls show that Clinton has a small lead over Trump.  This after Trump's campaign had been damaged by organizational problems and the candidate has made racist statements about a federal judge and had called for a ban against Muslims entering this country.    

Clinton has appeared to gain momentum following her enthusiastic joint appearance with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, a darling of the progressives.  And, while popular Senator Bernie Sanders is still seeking the Democratic nomination, he has indicated he would vote for Clinton.  Last week the House Select Committee on Benghazi released a report that found no evidence of wrongdoing by then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton following its exhaustive investigation into the deaths of four Americans in 2012.   Additionally, the sister of the ambassador killed in Benghazi, Chris Stevens, said she did not blame Clinton for her brother's death.  Instead, Dr. Anne Stevens blamed Congress for underfunding the State Department.  

Nonetheless, Trump will continue to assail "Crooked Hillary" in an effort to leverage her perceived lack of trustworthiness.  While Trump is viewed as only slightly more trustworthy than Clinton according to polls, he speaks with swagger.  "I'm honest, I'm trustworthy, I tell it like it is," he said on Fox News.   His supporters seem to overlook his miscues, his misdeeds, his lack or temperament, perhaps because they are frustrated with Washington and just want change.

Hillary Clinton has many challenges ahead in her pursuit of the presidency.  Uniting the party, picking a strong vice presidential candidate, motivating voters to support her, clearly articulating a compelling vision for her presidency that appeals to all Americans are among her hurdles.  But the biggest hurdle may be dealing with the outcome of the FBI probe into her use of a private server. 

Former President Bill Clinton has just made that task a lot harder.  

Clinton's "Mistake"

As former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton nears her goal of securing the Democratic presidential nomination she once again is testing the loyalty of even her most ardent supporters.  A State Department inspector general report, released Wednesday, found that she had not sought permission to use a private email server while she was in office, contradicting her explanation that she has repeated throughout her campaign.   

The report is damning, noting that she had "a personal obligation to discuss using her email account to conduct official business," but there was no evidence she sought or received approval from the State Department.  The State investigation also was critical of Clinton's handling of emails under the Federal Records Act after she stepped down.  While she later turned over thousands of emails, she had thousands more she considered personal destroyed.  The government has now determined that more than 100 emails Clinton sent contain classified information.  

Meanwhile, an FBI investigation into her email use continues, as well as other legal challenges, which all casts a dark cloud over her ongoing campaign.   Clinton has repeatedly said that other Secretaries of State used a private email address.  The State report found that Secretary of State Colin Powell, who served in President George W. Bush's first term, said he used a private address for unclassified emails.  But at least two emails sent to him have now been marked classified.  

The report also points out that the email rules were clarified before Clinton became Secretary of State to not allow the use of a private server because of "significant security risks."   In November 2010, her deputy chief of operations recommended "putting you on State email" to shield her email from spam.  She responded that she would consider using a separate address, but "I don't want any risk of the personal being accessible."  The report says Clinton was sent a memo in 2011 warning of hackers trying to access private email accounts, and that she was given a personal briefing on the issue.  

Why would the Secretary of State, who should know the rules of her department, seek to use a private server?  In March 2015, Clinton told CNN, "I opted for convenience to use my personal account, which was allowed by the State Department, because I thought it would be easier to carry one device for my work and for my personal emails instead of two."  She continued, "Looking back, it would have been better if I'd simply used a second email account and carried a second phone, but at the time, this didn't seem like an issue."   This effort to minimize the issue flies in the face of State Department rules.  While the State report found that neither Clinton nor Powell was directly told to end their personal email, there were plenty of warnings.

The FBI is looking into whether Clinton mishandled government information, which could result in criminal charges.  The investigation reportedly centers on the failure to preserve government records and exposing government information to security risks.   Clinton and her top aides are expected to be interviewed by the FBI in the near future.   Clinton has described the FBI investigation as a "security inquiry."  But FBI Director James Comey said he wasn't familiar with that term, instead calling it an investigation and adding that there is no external deadline.  "I remain close to that investigation to make sure that it's done well and has the resources that are needed," he continued, "My goal in any investigation it to do it well and to do it promptly."   

Meanwhile, Republicans immediately capitalized on the State Department findings.  "This report underscores what we already know about Hillary Clinton: she simply cannot be trusted," House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement.   Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House oversight committee, responded in a statement.  "While Secretary Clinton preserved and returned tens of thousands of pages of her emails to the Department for public release, Secretary Powell has returned none."  The statement concluded, "Republicans need to stop wasting taxpayer dollars singling out Secretary Clinton just because she is running for President."

The ultimate impact of Clinton's email controversy on her campaign will not be known until the FBI announces its findings.  There is no question that the controversy plays right into the widely held perception that Clinton is not trustworthy.   The presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump, is making the most of Clinton's troubles.  He has branded her "Crooked Hillary," and he told a rally Wednesday night, "She's as crooked as they come, she had a little bad news today."  However, recent polls show that Trump is even more unpopular than Clinton.   And Trump's bullying, erratic behavior and outrageous statements have caused many Republicans to cautiously embrace his candidacy, and others to hold off on their endorsements. 

While it may be nearly impossible for Clinton's Democratic opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders, to overtake her in the delegate count, he has pledged to take his fight to the Democratic Convention. A new poll, taken before the State Department report was released,  shows Sanders has closed the gap among likely voters in the upcoming California primary.   

Last September, in an effort to quiet the controversy, Clinton told ABC News that her use of private email was a "mistake," adding, "I am sorry about that.  I take responsibility."   Now, nearly one year later, the email controversy continues to gain momentum and roil her campaign.   And the FBI has not yet spoken.