Patterico's Pontifications

7/7/2016

Gowdy vs. Comey For the Win

Filed under: General — JVW @ 4:35 pm



[guest post by JVW]

No contest. Here’s the video:

And here’s the transcript of Gowdy’s excellent summation (all bolded emphasis is mine):

[. . .] In your old job you would prove intent as you referenced by showing the jury evidence of a complex scheme that was designed for the very purpose of concealing the public record and you would be arguing in addition to concealment the destruction that you and i just talked about or certainly the failure to preserve.

You would argue all of that under the heading of [intent]. You would also be arguing the pervasiveness of the scheme when it started, when it ended and the number of emails whether

They were originally classified or of classified under the heading of intent. You would also, probably, under common scheme or plan, argue the burn bags of daily calendar entries or the missing daily calendar entries as a common scheme or plan to conceal.

Two days ago, Director, you said a reasonable person in her position should have known a private email was no place to send and receive classified information. You’re right. An average person does know not to do that.

This is no average person. This is a former First Lady, a former United States senator, and a former Secretary of State that the president now contends is the most competent, qualified person to be president since Jefferson. [. . .]

She affirmatively rejected efforts to give her a state.gov account, kept the private emails for almost two years and only turned them over to Congress because we found out she had a private email account.

So you have a rogue email system set up before she took the oath of office, thousands of what we now know to be classified emails, some of which were classified at the time. One of her more frequent email comrades was hacked and you don’t know whether or not she [Clinton] was.

And this scheme took place over a long period of time and resulted in the destruction of public records and yet you say there is insufficient evidence of intent. You say she was extremely careless, but not intentionally so.

You and I both know intent is really difficult to prove. Very rarely do defendants announce ‘On this date I intend to break this criminal code section. Just to put everyone on notice, I am going to break the law on this date.’

It never happens that way. You have to do it with circumstantial evidence or if you’re Congress and you realize how difficult it is prove, specific intent, you will [formulate] a statute that allows for gross negligence.

[. . .] You mentioned there’s no precedent for criminal prosecution. My fear is there still isn’t. There’s nothing to keep a future Secretary of State or President from this exact same email scheme or their staff.

And my real fear is this, what the chairman touched upon, this double track justice system that is rightly or wrongly perceived in this country. That if you are a private in the Army and email yourself classified information you will be kicked out. But if you are Hillary Clinton, and you seek a promotion to Commander in Chief, you will not be. So what I hope you can do today is help the average person, the reasonable person you made reference to, the reasonable person understand why she appears to be treated differently than the rest of us would be. [. . .]

I know there are many armchair quarterbacks Congressmen out there who think that Gowdy could have done more, didn’t quite bore far enough into Comey’s weak arguments, let another opportunity slip away, etc. Bear in mind that by the silly rules of the House Gowdy had limited time for questions, and he wisely nipped in the bud the Director’s initial attempt to filibuster and provide long answers. We’re all welcome to quibble and say that he should have done more, but I thought that overall this was a devastating sequence, and I particularly thought the line where he pointed out that we still don’t have a precedent for prosecuting criminal decisions made by powerful people was entirely on point.

– JVW

95 Responses to “Gowdy vs. Comey For the Win”

  1. and I particularly thought the line where he pointed out that we still don’t have a precedent for prosecuting criminal decisions made by powerful people was entirely on point.

    But JVW, that’s a feature of the Klinton Kleptocracy, not a bug.

    Rev. Hoagie® (0f4ef6)

  2. It must be said and I’m gonna say it: Any #neverTrump Republican or conservative who at this point fails to realize the importance of keeping the Clintons out of the White House at all costs is certifiably insane.

    Rev. Hoagie® (0f4ef6)

  3. he was far too respectful of this sad corrupt p.o.s. fbi slut

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  4. A key point curiously unmentioned at the Committee hearing was Hillary’s missing emails immediately before, during, and after the Benghazi attack. That’s why Director Comey inexplicably gave Hillary a pass.

    ropelight (596f46)

  5. Good discussion/Bad Discussion, doesn’t matter. There’s 330 million Americans that will never see it.

    Youtube shows 2,232 views as I write this. Doubt it cracks 100,000 views.

    TheNaBr (0c7c2f)

  6. Anybody think there is anything to the idea that Comey is sacrificing himself to get the condemning evidence out, that he knew that the DOJ wasn’t going to prosecute, so he made the point of going public himself? I heard that Dershowitz said that there is little to no precedent for all of the bad details of an investigation to be made public if there were no charges filed, that what Comey did was unethical in regards to dumping on Clinton.
    IOW, Comey chose to make himself look like an idiot in order to get the info public.

    Like I said on the other thread, Comey’s defense of Clinton was basically saying she was too incompetent to know any better.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  7. if he hadn’t chivved alberto gonzalez, on an issue, of policy, doc, and released the hounds on
    scooter libby, I would take that notion under advisement, yes he does challenge the administration’s war on police, on the margins,

    narciso (732bc0)

  8. I don’t know if the following questions were asked?

    1. Whose idea was it to make a public disclosure of the FBI recommendation? Who, including eople outside the government, had to approve it?

    2. Did any of your reasong, come, directly or indicrectly, from Hillary Clintons lawyers?

    3. Did Hillary Clinton;s lawyers get a heads up, and if so, how far in advance?

    4. How far in advance did you know for certain that Hillary Clinton would agree to tlk to the FBI last Saturday?

    5. Does the folllowing statement in the New York Times accurate;y reflect your thinking:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/06/us/james-comey-fbi-hillary-clinton-email-investigation.html

    WASHINGTON — Shortly after Hillary Clinton was interviewed on Saturday by agents at the F.B.I.’s headquarters, its director, James B. Comey, heard from his deputies that Mrs. Clinton had been truthful and forthcoming in the three-and-a-half-hour meeting.

    Mr. Comey, who had been regularly briefed on the progress of the yearlong investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s email account as secretary of state, had known for some time that his agents had not uncovered enough evidence to charge her or anyone else with a crime. Now, with the interview done, he told his deputies, according to F.B.I. officials, that he wanted to move forward with a plan he had been working on for months to explain the findings from such a politically contentious investigation to the public. And he did not wait to do it.

    6. Can we get the FBI notes from that interview?

    7. Were the questions negotiated in advance, and if som can we see the agreement? Did the lawyers ever object to any line of questioning? Did the laeyers offer any explanations on their own?

    Sammy Finkelman (88f52d)

  9. What were the contents of those missing classified documents Mr Comey?

    Checks from foreign govts in care of the Clinton Foundation or perhaps a SOS from Benghazi?

    scott (2bad05)

  10. Youtube shows 2,232 views as I write this. Doubt it cracks 100,000 views.

    CNN’s version on YouTube already has almost 10,000 views. Nobody claimed that this would go viral or that everyone in America would watch it before sundown, but this along with some other stuff we’ve seen should provide GOP candidates some pretty good talking points.

    JVW (eabb2a)

  11. Sammy Finkelman (88f52d) — 7/7/2016 @ 5:12 pm

    Sammy, one of the things that really cheeses me about this is that Comey and the Justice Department are trying to claim that no one knew what his recommendation would be until he made his announcement on Tuesday, yet somehow every news agency was reporting in advance of the newsconference that Comey was expected to announce there would be no charges. If it was such a last-minute decision how did it leak so far in advance?

    JVW (eabb2a)

  12. provide GOP candidates some pretty good talking points.

    Talking points are only any good if people are listening. No one is listening to Republicans.

    TheNaBr (0c7c2f)

  13. Today’s dog and pony show was nothing more than a what’s known in the clandestine services as a limited hangout. They (Comey) admit(s) part of the crime in order to keep the most incriminating aspects concealed. It’s an old and highly effective technique, they throw a small portion of red meat to the howling wolves who then fight among themselves over the scraps while the fat cats skip out.

    The limited hangout is used when hidden agendas go sour and the whole secret operation (usually highly illegal, amoral, and extra-Constitutional) is in danger of being exposed to the American voters. So, in order to buy time they keep a lid on the most explosive elements in order to confuse the issue, spread disinformation, and cover their tracks (delete emails) as much as possible, the fat cats let out just enough information for the Washington Generals to fixate on side issues and exhaust themselves chasing chemaras.

    Benghazi is the key. Benghazi!

    ropelight (596f46)

  14. Mike Lee is a no good pos. Muzzle loving moron mormon.

    mg (31009b)

  15. benghazi is just room in the spectre mansion, nigeria, haiti, russia, all play a part,

    narciso (732bc0)

  16. #13. I agree ropelight. I bet there was gun running from Benghazi to Syria.

    TheNaBr (0c7c2f)

  17. Mike Lee is a no good pos. Muzzle loving moron mormon.

    mg, seriously, if that is the best you can do for a comment then please take your mindless thoughts somewhere else. The grownups are trying to have a discussion.

    JVW (eabb2a)

  18. Talking points are only any good if people are listening. No one is listening to Republicans.

    Agreed. But there is one Republican who seems to be getting a lot of press these days. His every utterance is broadcast and then dissected and discussed endlessly. His supporters tell us that part of his appeal is that he can go over the heads of the major news agencies and get his message out without it passing through the media filter. It remains to be seen if he can make any traction of this, or if he just launches into another disquisition on Saddam Hussein, terrorist fighter.

    JVW (eabb2a)

  19. But there is one Republican who seems to be getting a lot of press these days. His every utterance is broadcast and then dissected and discussed endlessly. His supporters tell us that part of his appeal is that he can go over the heads of the major news agencies and get his message out without it passing through the media filter. It remains to be seen if he can make any traction of this, or if he just launches into another disquisition on Saddam Hussein, terrorist fighter.

    90% of every business deal is selling yourself to the customer.
    — X. Hollander

    nk (dbc370)

  20. #16, yes, and the armaments Hillary and Obama collected at the CIA Annex were shipped to Syria and supplied the firepower that produced ISIS. Hillary and Obama are the Founders of the Islamic State.

    ropelight (596f46)

  21. “GANGSTER GOVERNMENT: Congressional Report: Obama Administration Withheld Information on Illegal ObamaCare Payments. Knowing violation of the law.”

    https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/238116/

    Colonel Haiku (f125a7)

  22. These are people who really know how to make things happen. Movers and shakers. What’s the problem?

    Colonel Haiku (f125a7)

  23. #20. Indeed they are. I mean, they also released the leader of ISIS from Gitmo. Al-Baghdadi.

    TheNaBr (0c7c2f)

  24. that was probably the local authorities at camp cropper, the times have finally gotten around to discovering the awol gitmo detainee ub uruguay, but they assure us ‘there’s nothing to see here’ it’s ramadan, so he’ll get back in touch with them, from rio,

    narciso (732bc0)

  25. I never, ever heard of this Gowdy person before today. So, why isn’t he king of the bloody universe? How many more of these dudes are there out there that we’ve never heard of? Why don’t they rule with fists of blood and fire?

    hunson abedeer (80144e)

  26. Up above understood, narciso,
    unless he finally had enough

    “limited hangout” also a thought,
    I heard J. Christian Adams say that it was bunk that nobody knew what Comey was going to say, unless you mean no one knew the exact text of his speech.

    Daniel had integrity in high office, it can happen.
    (And yes, Max, it will take a miracle).

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  27. All of the rest of us knew about him, former prosecutor.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  28. the other room in the mansion,

    https://world.wng.org/2016/06/fatal_connections

    he was the head of the benghazi committee, that put forth ‘sound and fury, signifying nothing, told by an idiot’ last week or so, well there were some gems buried in the dross,

    narciso (732bc0)

  29. Mike Lee can kiss my x catholic azz.

    mg (31009b)

  30. Yes, we had hoped the Benghazi hearings would have been more like the above.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  31. Grown-ups
    lmmfao.

    mg (31009b)

  32. Breitbart.
    lmmfao.

    JVW (eabb2a)

  33. It still makes me sad that Andrew Breitbart died. =(

    TheNaBr (0c7c2f)

  34. Yeah, TheNaBr, me too. And it makes me almost as sad to see what has become of his site.

    JVW (eabb2a)

  35. Grown-ups
    lmmfao.
    mg (31009b) — 7/7/2016 @ 6:24 pm

    ie

    I guess we are just kidding ourselves.

    Steve57 (a8355f)

  36. #26, MD, Obama knew exactly what Comey was going to say, otherwise he would never have invited Hillary to fly with him on Air Force 1. The Fix was in, Slick Willy sealed the deal and got all the ducks in line with Loretta Lynch on the tarmac in Phoenix.

    ropelight (596f46)

  37. I never, ever heard of this Gowdy person before today.

    That’s because you’re a Canadian neo-Nazi, Christoph. We, Americans, know Gowdy very well from his committee’s investigation of the Obama scandals.

    nk (dbc370)

  38. Read what I read or else says the intellectual gestapo.

    mg (31009b)

  39. Anti trump pro Lieawatha
    What a dope.

    mg (31009b)

  40. Read whatever you want, mg, but don’t expect any of us to take it seriously.

    JVW (eabb2a)

  41. I think it was tongue in cheek, but frankly going after the razorback borgia has been like the bear’s porridge, either too hot, like burton or starr, or too cold, like gowdy or fiske, that’s been for 20 plus years now.

    narciso (732bc0)

  42. That’s a great analogy, narciso. I think all of us who have seen a compelling case for Clintonian mendacity laid out are always surprised when the general reaction is either “the facts are there but you haven’t strung them together” (too cold) or “the facts are there but you are trying to hard to make them into something they are not” (too hot). A lot of that is because partisan Democrats control the narrative via the media, but some of it too seems to indicate that for whatever reason there are people who don’t particularly care for the Clinton crime family yet they still cut them the benefit of the doubt. It’s bewildering.

    JVW (eabb2a)

  43. Lee/Warren/2016

    mg (31009b)

  44. I didn’t know breitbart, like many of you did, I knew his reputation, yes the publication after being stabbed in the back by glenn beck among others, lost something, but on the big issues of trade, islamism, crime, you’re not likely to find better coverage,

    narciso (732bc0)

  45. Hit the deck, narciso, incoming.

    mg (31009b)

  46. Whether too hot or too cold,
    the bottom line is that the Clintons get away with what no other American would,
    And not enough people seem to care.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  47. there are agendas driving much of the flotsam we have seen this year, paul singer was spearheading the campaign to block cruz, because he has pikachu like fixation about social issues, he also funded ericson recent cry for help, the resurgent, on economic self interest grounds,

    narciso (732bc0)

  48. Never underestimate the blackmail value of J Edgar Hoover’s secret files. The ones Hillary acquired during the Filegate scandal. When something otherwise inexplicable happens, blackmail is always a possibility especially when the Clintons are involved.

    ropelight (596f46)

  49. Shots fired in Dallas, looks like at least 2 cops down.

    ropelight (596f46)

  50. The part that makes me angriest — because I believe it’s an outright lie by Comey — is this:

    All the cases prosecuted involved some combination of: clearly intentional and willful mishandling of classified information; or vast quantities of materials exposed in such a way as to support an inference of intentional misconduct; or indications of disloyalty to the United States; or efforts to obstruct justice.

    This cannot be a truthful statement with respect to cases prosecuted under the statute regarding gross negligence, which contains no intent requirement. Every single criminal conviction under that statute was based on either admissions (typically part of a plea) or jury findings regarding the elements of that statute; not one jury was asked, and not one judge taking a plea got a record recital, that any of those people were convicted based on their intent.

    Moreover, if the DoJ is using a different standard for prosecuting that statute than Congress wrote into it, they’re breaking their oaths and taking the law into their own hands.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  51. Mike Lee can kiss my x catholic azz.

    mg (31009b) — 7/7/2016 @ 6:22 pm
    ==================================
    Probably have to fight his way thru a gaggle of priests to get there.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  52. he’s making common cause with the closest thing to a marxist in elected office, besides der kommissar brown,

    narciso (732bc0)

  53. Lee would probably enjoy him some priestly offerings.

    mg (31009b)

  54. Tell it like it is, Iowahawk!

    https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/238120/

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  55. lets face it, inspector dreyfus, is part of the camarilla, not on all things, but he’s whitewashed the san bernardino and orlando investigation, he’s practically moonwalked the whole server fooferaw, it doesn’t matter how much dirty money is involved, how many assets are compromised, how many policies derailed,

    narciso (732bc0)

  56. that’s good, but this one brings the house down,

    https://twitter.com/iowahawkblog/status/751125019116253184

    narciso (732bc0)

  57. Gowdy had Comey list lie after lie after lie that Clinton made.

    False exculpatory statements = consciousness of guilt and the intent to deceive.

    Pts (ce7fc3)

  58. Just so you guys know, three police officers shot in Dallas at a BLM protest tonight: http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/dallas-county/breaking-shots-fired-and-officers-down-at-downtown-dallas-protest/266881573

    Ag80 (eb6ffa)

  59. 1968, it’s a how to manual, for them,

    narciso (732bc0)

  60. Dallas? Why Dallas? CNN could not get camera crews to Baton Rouge or Falcon Heights, Minnesota?

    nk (dbc370)

  61. Early information, but apparently two Dallas police officers and one Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) officer. The protest had been peaceful and the shooting started as it ended or shortly after it ended. One witness says the DART officer was a woman.

    Ag80 (eb6ffa)

  62. just because, it’s like targeting alderaan, dantoine was too remote,

    narciso (732bc0)

  63. They’ll never prove intent in Dallas. AmIRight?

    While I am at it, how would Director Comey ever approve a “hate crime” referral?

    The Summer is young.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  64. right, and the orlando shooter, was a gay pickup artist, these things are being deliberately incited, probably by the ever so helpful ‘community resource service’

    narciso (732bc0)

  65. Dallas Area Rapid Transit has said on Twitter that four officers were shot and one has died. Still early. WFAA just says ten officers shot, one dead. Some DART and some DPD. DPD Chief just says ten officers shot and three dead.

    Ag80 (eb6ffa)

  66. Again, still early. Two snipers from elevated positions. Three dead and three critical.

    Ag80 (eb6ffa)

  67. Black Lives Matter — “Settling the score one dead cop at a time!”

    Pts (ce7fc3)

  68. Horrible night in Dallas.

    mg (31009b)

  69. mg, the reason that no one is going to lash out at narciso is because narciso has the ability to make a coherent point without sounding like an unhinged lunatic. Funny how that works. I don’t agree with him about Breitbart (the news site, not the man), but I respect that he knows how to debate without going off the rails.

    JVW (eabb2a)

  70. DPD chief says ten shot, three dead, two in surgery and three in critical condition.

    Ag80 (eb6ffa)

  71. Barack has romanticized rioting, belligerence, the subversion of a civil society, and hatred for police. What we’re seeing in Dallas tonight is chapter and verse from the Alinsky Playbook.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  72. I try to weigh my words carefully, using examples instead of invective,

    narciso (732bc0)

  73. I want it noted that not one, single, solitary report of any Islamic connection to the Dallas slaughter has been published anywhere.

    But, anytime there is a cop shooting a black person, there are instantly any number of cries of murder and brutality shouted.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  74. No suspects in custody. Search is under way.

    Ag80 (eb6ffa)

  75. “unhinged lunatic”
    professor lecture

    mg (31009b)

  76. Just to be clear, all victims are police officers. I hardly ever go downtown anymore, but I was there today, but not close to the shooting tonight.

    Ag80 (eb6ffa)

  77. Here’s what I mean by “unhinged lunatic” and “going off the rails”:

    Mike Lee is a no good pos. Muzzle loving moron mormon.

    mg (31009b) — 7/7/2016 @ 5:36 pm)

    and

    Mike Lee can kiss my x catholic azz.

    mg (31009b) — 7/7/2016 @ 6:22 pm

    Res ipsa loquitur, mg.

    JVW (eabb2a)

  78. Dallas mayor talking now. “Worst nightmare happened.” DPD and DART officers shot upon. DPD Chief Brown says: suspect surrounded in El Centro College and negotiations under way. Eleven officers shot. Three dead. Some shot in the back. Seems to be planned to injure as many officers as possible. Bomb possible. Again all according to DPD chief during live statement right now.

    Ag80 (eb6ffa)

  79. One DART officer dead. Two DPD officers dead and one civilian injured. Total 11 officers shot. DPD has released photo of a suspect which is on Twitter.

    Ag80 (eb6ffa)

  80. And the sainted 47% taunt the cops keeping the peace in Dallas at this very moment. Any footage and audio of this are headed straight to the same rabbit hole the HRC interview notes went, too.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  81. I opened up a new post for the horrific night in Dallas.

    JVW (eabb2a)

  82. Gunfire reported in El Centro College garage.

    Ag80 (eb6ffa)

  83. Four officers dead according to reports.

    Ag80 (eb6ffa)

  84. Ag80, we’re updating the story over here.

    JVW (eabb2a)

  85. JVW: Thanks. Signing out.

    Ag80 (eb6ffa)

  86. I know there are many armchair quarterbacks Congressmen out there who think that Gowdy could have done more, didn’t quite bore far enough into Comey’s weak arguments, let another opportunity slip away, etc. Bear in mind that by the silly rules of the House Gowdy had limited time for questions”

    Hopefully, I don’t come across as “off the rails” but, JVW, this “we should be happy for a C+” (and the excuses that always follow), is exactly why our only alternative to Clinton is The Cretin.

    House rules? Everyone on the R side of that panel knows the skills Gowdy possesses. They know what he could have done if they, and he, were so inclined. All could have yielded their time and let Gowdy destroy Comey. None of them, save maybe Hurd, wanted that. It’s a sham, soundbites for their next campaigns.

    Matador (77765d)

  87. You can’t trust Hillary. Roll the dice and vote Trump.

    DCSCA (a343d5)

  88. This is important: “FBI Director Comey’s Suggestion that Congress’s Gross Negligence Statute Is Invalid”

    If James Comey really believes you can’t prosecute someone for gross negligence in handling classified information, he, as Director of the FBI, the nation’s chief counterintelligence agency, is a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States, and he should be removed from office immediately.

    As in tomorrow.

    Denver Guy (09f80c)

  89. Director Comey’s belief you can, without legal consequence, hand over classified information to whomever (private IT support, lawyers, etc.) and just trust them not to read it is also a clear and present danger to the united States. Politics aside, he has to go.

    What a mess. If this stands, it guts the whole national security classification scheme!

    Denver Guy (09f80c)

  90. MD in Philly (f9371b) — 7/7/2016 @ 5:07 pm

    I heard that Dershowitz said that there is little to no precedent for all of the bad details of an investigation to be made public if there were no charges filed, that what Comey did was unethical in regards to dumping on Clinton.

    Someone else is quoted as saying exactly the same thing in the New York Times:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/06/us/james-comey-fbi-hillary-clinton-email-investigation.html

    ….Matthew Miller, a former senior official in the Obama Justice Department who supports Mrs. Clinton, said in a telephone interview….“He’s clearing her, but he’s smearing her at the same time, and the department’s rules prevent that kind of thing from happening.”

    I suspect there is one circumstance under which the department’s rules would NOT prevent that from happening.

    And that’s when it is done with the consent of the person smeared.

    As for why Hillary Clinton’s lawyers would have agreed to this: They wanted a public announcement and they wanted the investigation stopped, and they wanted to make it easy for Comey to do this.

    They wanted the whole investigation shut down, because, if it wasn’t, there might be something being investigated they didn;t know about, and because it could turn into a RICO investigation of the Clintons. And there was also the political worry, that, somehow, some way, she might be deprived of the nomination if her indictment was still an open question.

    IOW, Comey chose to make himself look like an idiot in order to get the info public.

    No, if this was done without the consent of Hillary Clinton’s lawyers, it would have violated the rules of the Department of Justice, and he wouldn’t have done it, and if his superiors hadn’t known the import of what he was going to say – I’ll believe him that they didn’t have the text -and that it would not violate the rules, they would not have agreed to him making any announcement.

    And of course, if Hillary Clinton’s lawyer’s knew, Hillary Clinton and her top aides also knew, and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates also knew.

    Sammy Finkelman (88f52d)

  91. Denver Guy (09f80c) — 7/7/2016 @ 9:30 pm

    If James Comey really believes you can’t prosecute someone for gross negligence in handling classified information,

    No, he doesn’t believe that. What he said was that there was no precedent for prosecuting anyone for that, absent other factors.

    And, you might add, when something is that rare, there is argument that any prosecution constitutes selective prosecution, and it may overturned by an appeals court. Courts, I think, rarely invoke that doctrine, but they sometimes do.

    This is an argument a defense lawyer would make. Although usually to a prosecutor, and not a detective.

    Sammy Finkelman (88f52d)

  92. Here’s an excerpt from George Rasley at Conservative HQ 7/8/16

    Conservatives: We Need To Fight And Win The Election We Have

    In the ideal world imagined by some of our friends, Hillary Clinton would have been indicted and knocked-out of the race for President and Donald Trump will be replaced at the Republican National Convention by an as yet unidentified perfect conservative candidate whom the voters will anoint as the next President of the United States.

    Of course none of this ever was, or is, going to happen, but some of our conservative friends can’t seem to stop wishing for the election they want, instead of concentrating on winning the election they have.

    However, despite this lack of ability to focus on winning, the tools to win are actually there, in a way they haven’t been available to Republicans in the past several presidential election cycles…

    “But if we are going to deliver real change, we’re going to have to reject the campaign of fear and intimidation being pursued by powerful corporations, media leaks and political dynasties. The people who rigged the system for their benefit will do anything and say anything to keep things exactly the way they are.

    “The people who rigged the system are supporting Hillary Clinton because they know as long as she is in charge, nothing is going to change. The inner cities will remain poor. The factories will remain closed. The borders will remain open. The special interests will remain firmly in control. Hillary Clinton and her friends in global finance want to scare America into thinking small. ”

    People in “flyover country” are starting to understand they’ve been the victims of a politician-made disaster. The destruction of America’s middle class, wrought over the past two decades and continuing today, wasn’t caused by some inevitable, pre-destined economic force – it was caused by the leaders we elected and entrusted with our government.

    And Donald Trump is the only candidate for President talking about it and prepared to rectify it.

    Clearly, it does not come naturally to Donald Trump to speak the language of cultural conservatives, politically active Christians, the Bible and the Constitution.

    But, just as clearly, we have him looking our way on a number of important issues; judicial appointments, matters of conscience and religious liberty, government paid abortions, gun confiscation, open borders, job killing trade deals, the endless importation of welfare-dependent aliens and reining-in the use of government enforced political correctness to stifle Christian witness in the public square.

    We know there’s no negotiating on our issues with Hillary Clinton, so it is to Trump that right-of-center voters will have to look if our country and constitutional liberties are to survive, and it is to us that Trump must look to find the votes necessary to win the election.

    The future of our country is at stake in this election. It’s time we conservatives stopped wishing for an election that was never going to be and buckled down to winning the one we have.

    ropelight (596f46)

  93. ropelight (596f46) — 7/7/2016 @ 5:58 pm

    the armaments Hillary and Obama collected at the CIA Annex were shipped to Syria

    No, those weapons went into U.S. stockpiles.

    The U.S. was collecting them to prevent them from going to Syria. It was Saudi Arabia and Qatar who were buying weapons and sending them to Syria via Turkey, or that was the idea. The CIA was there in order to buy them first before the Saudis and Qataris could get them.

    The conventional wisdom was that sending surface to air missiles during the 1980 was one big mistake – that they got lost and might be used by a terrorist group to shoot fown a civilian airliner. The U.S. under Obama, was extremely cautious about sending any kind of weapons to the Syrian rebels, and tried to stop other countries from doing so as well.

    Naturally they didn’t get 100% of those on the market. There were so many weapons around Benghazi because Quaddafi had considered the eastern portion of Libya to be the place he was safest from rebels or a coup, so he put all his weapons not needed for immediate use over there.

    Why do you think the terrorists wanted to kill the Ambassador and get the U.S. out of Benghazi? It was because the U.S. was interfering.

    Ambassador Stevens was there to interfere with the sending of armaments to the Syrian rebels by Qatar and Saudi Arabia. I don’t have any clear idea what was the emergency or excuse that sent Ambassador to Benghazi on September 11th – a day which doing anything considered risky was avoided on general principles, but some kind of news sent him there. Maybe about a ship, loaded with armaments, getting ready to ssail

    But the ship he intended to stop had already sailed. He nevertheless met with some Turkish official, – in some reports called the ambassador, but probably the Turkish intelligence station chief, operating there under Turkish diplomatic cover. And he threatened Turkey. Whether it was that, or something else, the weapons stayed in Turkey and did not get sent over the border.

    Qatar and maybe Saudi Arabia did send other weapons to Syrian rebels, some of whom became, or were, ISIS. And other weapons went across Egypt to Hamas in Gaza.

    Sammy Finkelman (88f52d)

  94. Patterico, I haven’t seen you comment on this (at least on the main page). What is your take as a prosecutor on the investigator finding gross negligence (aka extreme carelessness), meeting the statute, but then either reading a non-existent intent requirement, or exercising ‘prosecutorial’ discretion rather than leaving it to the prosecutors? What was your take on Trey Gowdy’s establishing intent line of questioning? I would think if everything else did not already establish intent, the email where she told subordinates to ‘strip the markings and send nonsecure’ would have been more than adequate to establish intent.

    Was it news to you that the head of the FBI thinks mens rea was a requirement for criminal prosecution? Good thing no one has ever gone to jail on manslaughter charges.

    One of the most offensive things was not (necessarily) a Clinton crime…what do you make of extremely secret (top secret compartmentalized) sigint on foreign leaders personal communications making into Hillary’s inbox via Sid Blumenthal within 24 hours? I wouldn’t lay that one on Hillary as the recipient (he could have sent that to you or me as well), but it is terrifying that NSA can write highly classified reports on the communications of foreign leaders, and it be cut and pasted and recirculated by those without any security clearance that fast. While it is virtually guaranteed Hillary’s email server was hacked, it is a known fact Blumenthal’s was. That reveals not only that we were listening in, that the encryption they were using has been compromised, the security of their phone systems were compromised, and likely several other very sensitive ‘means and methods’ handed to our state enemies.

    noway (2640f4)


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