The Brothers Grimm: the 19th_century storytellers of such fabled tales as, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White, are not to be outdone by 21st-century tellers of tall tales. James Comey, Director of the FBI and Loretta Lynch, the Attorney General of the United States, spin today's fantasy yarns.
The collaboration of the deceptive duo began in Lynch's private jet. Bill Clinton clambered aboard. So began a 39-minute tete-a-tete about their grandchildren and golf. At least that's what they said.
However, there is no way this can be verified as there was no stenographer or witness present. Strange. Ordinarily, the conversational content between a high-level government official and a former president would be required. Not here. And for good reason.
The shady circumstances of the Clinton-Lynch ex parte meeting do not warrant a presumption of truth. The grandchildren-and-golf pretext exceeds the bounds of believability while a dialogue of Hillary's FBI investigation and its resolution is eminently credible.
The airport rendezvous all but shouts embracery, that is, did Bill attempt to influence the AG by bribery? Could it be that Bill discussed secretly with Lynch what Hillary expressed openly? Hillary has said that if she is elected president, Lynch would be her choice for AG. Bribery?
Embracery is punishable by imprisonment. How cozy. Imagine, side-by-side prison cells for Bill and Hill.
However, the meeting was a success; they managed to get their stories straight.
Comey began the controversy with a 14-minute press conference.
The FBI director detailed the results of the agency's year-long investigation. The facts are clear. Hillary was guilty of gross negligence with government top secret material a felony. She repeatedly lied to FBI interrogators a felony. And she destroyed documents and e-mails requested by the FBI a felony.
Having presented the facts, Comey was expected to toss the ball into the DOJ's court to allow it to decide if the probable Democratic nominee for president should stand trial.
Here's where the inscrutable Comey threw a curve ball. He abrogated the DOJ's authority by deciding that Hillary was not guilty by virtue of ignorance.
In Comey's words: “Investigators look for evidence not only that a statute was violated but also that a person knew that what he was doing was wrong. That evidence did not exist in this case.”
In other words, since Hillary did not know she was doing wrong, she gets an out-of-jail card.
Comey turned the legal principle---gnorantia juris non excusat---ignorance of the law excuses no one, on its head. Hillary was excused because she was ignorant of the law.
In Comey's court, ignorance is bliss.
Interesting defense. You might want to try it if a traffic cop pulls you over. But officer, you mean that running a red light is illegal?
Next, it was Lynch's turn before a presser.
Her opening statement ignored the House Judiciary Committee. She spoke about the recent shooting deaths of five police officers as if the Committee's inquiry into the decisions of the FBI and her office not to prosecute Hillary was a sideshow. As we shall see, she was right.
With the agility of an NFL running back, Lynch sidestepped and swiveled, dodged and ducked every question posed by the Committee without even breaking a sweat.
Her answers were pat. To pointed queries, it was, “It would not be appropriate in my role to discuss the specific facts.” To other questions like the conversation with Bill on her plane, it was dismissive. He just came on board to say “Hi.” Really, that's what she said. And “there was nothing about any investigations.”
Other questions were handled like a game of Hot Potato; she tossed contentious queries to Comey saying that “I accept the decision of the FBI.”
After an hour of saying nothing worthy of print, Rep. Trent Franks complimented Lynch on her “prodigious dissimulation skills.” Synonyms for “dissimulation” are concealment, smokescreen and cover-up.
The Chairman of the Judiciary Committee Bob Goodlatte said: “It's clear that Attorney General Lynch has no intention of answering any of our questions, even the most basic questions.” By count, she evaded questions 74 times.
The charade was over. The Committee was a toothless tiger.
The inquiry was powerless. Lynch knew they were powerless. The Committee knew that she knew they were powerless. Lynch could have thumbed her nose at them, but for decorum's sake, she stopped just short of that.
Sincerely,
Bob Scroggins
New Milford, PA