The First U.S. woman presidential candidate derailed by FBI director
By Roger Caldwell
With just 11 days left in the 2016 presidential campaign, the FBI Director, James Comey, has announced there is new information on Hillary Clinton’s email scandal, and the investigation has been reopened. This is unprecedented in the history of American politics, and the question is, why now?
Hillary Clinton called it “strange” and “deeply troubling” that FBI Director Comey released a letter to Congress regarding new emails under review by his agency. “It’s pretty strange to put something like that out with such little information right before an election because voters deserve to get full and complete facts,” Clinton said at a campaign rally in Daytona Beach, Florida.
From the director’s point of view, he is doing his job, but many think this is nasty politics and what he’s doing makes no sense. Director Comely sent a letter to the chairman of several congressional committees, and said in the course of a separate investigation, officials uncovered more emails that “appear to be pertinent but may or may not be significant.”
Timing is everything in an election, and this announcement could not have come at a more critical point in the campaign. The letter is extremely vague and Democrats are urging, on behalf of a fair and impartial election, the FBI director to release any and all relevant facts.
But facts in the 2016 presidential election have been few and far between, and very difficult to ascertain. At times, both candidates have stretched the truth and Americans are extremely confused. In July, Secretary Clinton was cleared by the FBI of any intentional wrongdoing. But on last Friday, it appears that Hillary is being charged with another scandal, indirectly related to her, and she cannot be trusted.
Instead of Director Comey waiting to be sure of the facts, it appears he left far too much to self-interpretation. “There is a longstanding policy of not doing anything that could influence an election,” says George Tewilliger, deputy attorney general in the George Bush administration.
“Justice traditionally bends over backward to avoid taking any action that might be seen by the public as influencing an election, often declining to even take private steps that might become public in the 60 days leading up to an election” says Mathew Miller, a former Justice Department official.
Comey appears to be riding solo when he broke longstanding practice and Justice Department guidelines by writing Friday’s letter to congress, and making a public comment on an ongoing investigation. This information has definitely changed the trajectory of the election, and the FBI Director is influencing the vote of millions of Americans.
It is not understood what was going through Comey’s mind when he decided to write the letter on Friday. Without a doubt, the director is questioning his own actions and what he planned to achieve. The investigation will not be complete in ten days, and it appears to have a devastating impact on Hillary and her supporters.
No one thought that an unsubstantiated allegation from the Director of the FBI could derail, and change the momentum of Hillary’s campaign. But in the 2016 election cycle with 11 days before the election, James Comey has made history by starting a new email scandal with a letter to Congress. This letter can discourage Americans from voting for Hillary Clinton, and change the outcome of the election.
Donald Trump is making it appear that Clinton has broken the law, and that finally, the FBI director has seen the light, and is ready to put her in jail.
The FBI director has not followed protocol, and has broken the long-standing policy of not taking any action that can influence an election within 60 days before the election is over. Hopefully, the FBI direction will release, in detail, all relevant facts concerning this new investigation.
Be the first to comment