Although the Preamble to the Constitution is a statement of intent, not a codification of law, the Founders hoped to work toward cited objectives, one of which was to "establish justice." Perhaps at no time in U.S. history have people felt the effects of corruption in government and the lack of established justice more than now, because some in high places act as though rules and laws are for others and they can lie and potentially damage our national security without consequence.
On July 5, FBI director James Comey announced the conclusion of a year-long investigation of Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. He made it clear that she was guilty of potentially handing classified, top-secret information to our enemies but strangely refused to recommend indictment -- as would happen to any other citizen having done the same thing.
And he said as much: "This is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences."
Instead of merely citing the evidence and turning it over to the Justice Department, he exceeded his authority by recommending that Clinton not be indicted. This made it easy for the Democratic Party to ignore the long list of evidence he had just cited, essentially undoing a year of intense FBI work. It freed attorney general Loretta Lynch from having to do anything other than support the FBI recommendation and saved President Barack Obama from having to retract his former endorsement of Hillary based upon her willful defiance of existing law. He campaigned with her just hours after Comey's announcement.
Many people openly believed that "the fix was in." With all that evidence, "how could they not indict her?"
Lynch was further relieved from the embarrassing appearance of impropriety, having met in Phoenix the week before with Bill Clinton, the husband of the accused, in what was supposed to be a secret meeting although Lynch denies that they addressed her role in Hillary's possible indictment. Attorney generals purposely avoid being anywhere near the accused to avoid even the appearance of conspiracy.
With this recommendation, nobody now expects legal action against Hillary. Certainly the Democrats in charge are not going to render it, proving for most that justice for all is no longer established or even necessarily a constitutional goal.
Comey said, with respect to the 30,000 emails the FBI reviewed, that "110 emails sent or received on Clinton's server contained classified information." Classified documents are marked as such. These contained information that was classified at the time the messages were sent. Eight contained "top-secret" information, the highest level of government classification for material that could harm national security. These, you may recall, the FBI investigators themselves did not initially have clearance to view because they were so sensitive.
Thousands of emails wiped clean, several classified, were never turned over to the State Department as Hillary claimed. Comey did not address her attempt to suppress evidence by wiping her server clean. No one else could escape this charge.
Comey continued, "She also used her personal email extensively while outside the United States, including sending and receiving work-related emails in the territory of sophisticated adversaries." It is possible "hostile actors" gained access to her email account. Moreover, he admitted that "there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information" and that they were "extremely careless in their handling of very-sensitive, highly-classified information." Again, the classified material was clearly marked and Hillary Clinton is an astute lawyer by profession. Such neglect is inexcusable and intentional.
US Code 18 defines "criminal gross negligence" as "careless to the extreme," which Comey admitted that she was, but he still refused to recommend indictment.
General David Petraeus, who pleaded guilty to the mishandling of classified information, was sentenced to two years probation and fined $100,000 for leaking classified information to his biographer and mistress. Certainly, justice for Hillary having potentially leaked to every enemy nation 110 classified documents, many far more sensitive than that of Petraeus, should be at least 110 times greater than his; but, instead, a violation charge of "gross criminal neglect" could make her president.
Comey seemed sincere when he said, "What I can assure the American people is that this investigation was done competently, honestly and independently."
This may be so, but his refusal to recommend indictment smells bad and reeks of injustice. Democrats will say, "There was not enough evidence to indict." Republicans will say, "The fix was in, someone got to Comey." Both will switch their positions should a Republican next do precisely the same thing.
But Constitutionalists see long-term damage to the Constitution and wonder if anyone in the future can be prosecuted for "gross criminal negligence" if Hillary isn't prosecuted.
This is a dark day for the Constitution and for established justice. It will be a much darker day if Americans choose to elect to office, and place in charge of national security, someone who, at the very least, has been proven unworthy to hold a security pass.
Harold Pease, PhD, is an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He has taught history and political science from this perspective for more than 25 years at Taft College. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 07/13/2016