USA: Banana or Constitutional Republic?
Soon, we may learn if we live under one set of laws for the rich and famous or under another set of laws for the poor and unknown. We have already seen that men and women under the jurisdiction of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) who mishandle classified security information often receive career ending punishments or even end up in federal prisons. But do those same rules apply to high-level political candidates who put sensitive national security information at risk of exposure?
By the way, "intent" is not one of the elements-of-proof under US Code Chapter 37, the Espionage Acts. Nor is "actual harm." The offender may not have intended harm to the United States and harm may not even have resulted from mishandling classified documents. No matter. By statute, the offender is still guilty.
But what about a conspiracy or plot to use the organs of the state, such as the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI, to prevent the criminal indictment of a particular high-level candidate for political office? Will the plotters be called to account? What about a plot to make it appear that another high-level candidate for political office was "colluding" with a foreign government? Will those plotters be indicted? What about a plot designed as an "insurance policy," to insure that a duly elected official is obstructed in the performance of his duties? Will criminal indictments be sought?
Writing in the February issue of Imprimis, former D.C. United States Attorney Joseph E. diGenova, says there were two conspiracies or plots: The first plot was designed by certain Obama DOJ and FBI officials to insure the election of Hillary Rodham Clinton as President of the United States. When that failed, the second plot was designed by some of those same officials to prevent the election of Donald J. Trump. Or, failing that, to preventing him from governing effectively.
Space doesn’t permit going into the details of just how these revelations might take the form of actionable law enforcement against the perpetrators of these plots. Moreover, where partisan politics are sure to be involved, events often do not proceed in a straight, predictable line. Suffice it to say, it will not be pretty and the legacy of the Obama Administration will be substantially damaged.
In order for Hillary Clinton to remain in the presidential contest, it was essential that the former Secretary of State be absolved of exposing highly classified documents via her unauthorized and insecure e-mail server to those who might do us harm. According to Mr. diGenova, the key players in that plot were then FBI Director, James Comey, and Assistant FBI Director Andrew McCabe and senior FBI Special Agent, Peter Strzok.
The second plot had two elements: 1. Prevent the election of Donald J. Trump. 2. failing that, provide materials to support the impeachment of the newly elected president. For those illegalities, Mr.diGenova names: FBI Director Comey (fired), U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch (left office), FBI Deputy Director McCabe (fired), FBI Special Agents Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and FBI General Counsel James Baker (all reassigned), and DOJ senior official Bruce Ohr (demoted). Should these alleged co-conspirators also face criminal charges? We report. You decide.
©2018. William Hamilton.
Nationally syndicated columnist, William Hamilton, is a laureate of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame, the Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame, the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma University Army ROTC Wall of Fame, and was a recipient of the University of Nebraska 2015 Alumni Achievement Award. Dr. Hamilton is the author of The Wit and Wisdom of William Hamilton: The Sage of Sheepdog Hill, Pegasus Imprimis Press (2017).
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