Comey defends decision not to recommend charges against Clinton
WASHINGTON (Talk Media News) – Republicans grilled FBI Director James Comey Thursday as he defended his recommendation not to charge Hillary Clinton for transmitting classified information on a private email server.
“My conclusion was and remains; no reasonable prosecutor would bring this case,” Comey told the House Oversight Committee. “No reasonable prosecutor would bring the second case in 100 years focused on gross negligence.”
Comey’s testimony comes a day after Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the Justice Department will not bring charges against Clinton.
Oversight Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said during his opening statement that the committee is mystified at Comey’s decision not to recommend charges. Chaffetz also said had the average American acted in a similar fashion to Clinton that they would most likely be in jail.
“We’re mystified and confused by the fact pattern that you laid out and the conclusions that you reached,” Chaffetz said. “It seems that there are two standards and there is no consequence for these types of activities… It seems to a lot of us that the average Joe, the average American, that if they had done what you laid out in your statement, that they’d be in handcuffs. And they might be on their way to jail and they probably should.”
Chaffetz also rejected popular contention among Democrats that the hearing was politically motivated. He said Clinton initiated the controversy by attempting to insulate herself from outside accountability. Chaffetz also said Clinton’s use of a private server to conduct official government business violates State Department protocol.
“Hillary Clinton created this mess,” Chaffetz said. “It wasn’t Republicans, it wasn’t anybody else. She made a very conscious decision; on the very day that she started her Senate confirmation she setup and got a domain name. And setup a system to avoid and bypass the safety, security and the protocol of the State Department.”
Ranking Member Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) defended Comey’s decision not to bring charges. Cummings said Republicans are attacking Comey because the former Bush appointee is now rendering a recommendation they view as unfavorable.
“After conducting this exhaustive review, you determined that no reasonable prosecutor would bring a case based on this evidence,” Cummings asserted. “And you and the career staff recommended against prosecution. Based on previous cases that you examined, if prosecutors had gone forward, they would have been holding the Secretary to a different standard from anyone else. Amazingly, some Republicans who were praising you just days ago; for your independence, for your integrity, and your honesty-instantly turned against you because your recommendation conflicted with a predetermined outcome they wanted.”
Cummings said the FBI director’s decision was made without any political influence. “No evidence that you were bribed or coerced or influenced.” “No evidence that you came to your conclusion based upon anything but the facts and the law,” he said.
During questioning Chaffetz asked Comey if he believes Clinton lied to FBI at anytime during the investigation. Comey said he was not aware of any evidence to suggest she had.
Chaffetz also asked if the FBI had investigated the veracity of Clinton’s sworn statements. Comey said the Bureau most likely did not because they had not received a referral from Congress requesting such action.
Chaffetz then sarcastically asked if a referral was necessary and when Comey responded in the affirmative Chaffetz said a referral would be issued within the next few hours.
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) who chaired the House Select Committee on Benghazi investigating Clinton’s response to the 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy in Libya, also grilled Comey for his decision not to recommend charges.
Gowdy assumed the role of a prosecutor and initiated an interrogatory exchange with Comey in an attempt to prove Clinton lied about whether she had either send or received classified information on her private server.
“Secretary Clinton said she never sent or received any classified information over her private email, was that true,” Gowdy asked.
“Our investigation found that there was classified information sent,” Comey said.
“So it was not true?” Gowdy interjected.
“That’s what I said,” Comey replied.
This article is republished with permission from Talk Media News
Bryan is an award-winning political journalist who has extensive experience covering Congress and Maryland state government.
His work includes coverage of the election of Donald Trump, the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions-as well as that of the Maryland General Assembly, Gov. Larry Hogan, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryan has broken stories involving athletic and sexual assault scandals with the Baltimore Post-Examiner.
His original UMBC investigation gained international attention, was featured in People Magazine and he was interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” and local radio stations. Bryan broke subsequent stories documenting UMBC’s omission of a sexual assault on their daily crime log and a federal investigation related to the university’s handling of an alleged sexual assault.