WASHINGTON (AP) — Under an onslaught of Republican criticism, FBI Director James Comey vigorously defended the government's decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton over her private email setup, rejecting angry accusations that the Democratic presidential candidate was given special treatment.
To criminally charge Clinton based on the facts his agency's yearlong probe had found would have been unwarranted and mere "celebrity hunting," Comey told a congressional investigative committee Thursday.
In nearly five hours of testimony, he sought to explain the Justice Department's decision ending an investigation that has dogged Clinton's presidential campaign and raised fresh questions among voters about her trustworthiness.
Republicans' hard, skeptical questioning made it clear that settling the legal issue will not end the matter as a political issue as Clinton campaigns against Republican Donald Trump, who scornfully refers to her as "Crooked Hillary."
Republicans on the panel, voices sometimes raised in apparent frustration and irritation, said they were mystified by the decision not to prosecute because they felt that Comey, in a remarkably detailed and critical public statement on Tuesday, had laid out a sufficient basis for charges.
"I totally get people's questions," he said, but the FBI was obliged to follow the law.
Comey said investigators found no evidence that Clinton or her aides intended to break the law, even though they mishandled classified information. A misdemeanor statute requires the mishandling to be intentional, Comey said. A law that permits felony prosecution due to gross negligence has been used only once in the 99 years since it was enacted — and that was in a case involving espionage.
"We don't want to put people in jail unless we prove that they knew they were doing something they shouldn't do," Comey said. "That is the characteristic of all the prosecutions involving mishandling of classified information."
Later Thursday, State Department spokesman John Kirby said the department was reopening its internal investigation of possible mishandling of classified information by Clinton and top aides. The internal review was suspended in April to avoid interfering with the FBI inquiry, Kirby said. Earlier this week he said former officials could face loss of security clearances or other administrative sanctions.
Comey's appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee marked his first public statements since his announcement that removed the threat of criminal charges against Clinton but also revived public scrutiny of her email behavior as secretary of state in President Barack Obama's first term.
Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, told Comey that the FBI's decision showed a "double standard" for powerful people. Had the "average Joe" done what she had done, he said, that person would go to prison.
"If your name isn't Clinton, or you're not part of the powerful elite, then Lady Justice will act differently," Chaffetz said, adding that the FBI had set a "dangerous precedent" in letting her off the hook.
Chaffetz said lawmakers would now ask the FBI to investigate whether Clinton lied to the committee.
One by one, Comey rebutted a litany of GOP charges including that the FBI had been biased, ignored the law, applied it unjustly or coordinated the decision with Clinton's campaign. "We try very hard to apply the same standard whether you are rich or poor, white or black, old or young, famous or not known at all," he said.
The committee's top Democrat, Elijah Cummings of Maryland, accused Republicans of politicizing the investigation. But he suggested Comey had contributed to that by leaving "a perceived gap" between his public criticism of Clinton and his conclusion not to prosecute.
"I beg you to fill the gap. Because when the gap is not filled by you, it will be filled by others," Cummings said.
As he had on Tuesday, Comey left no doubt about the FBI's contention that Clinton's email practices were careless and left government secrets exposed to hostile nations. He said three of the emails in question bore classification markings in the body despite Clinton's assertions that nothing she had sent or received was marked classified. And he said government workers who negligently handled classified information, including FBI agents, could be subject to firing and administrative sanctions.
But he also said it was possible Clinton didn't even understand what the classification markings were, saying the investigation suggested she was not "particularly sophisticated with respect to classified information."
And he repeated his earlier contention that "no reasonable prosecutor" would have pursued criminal charges, saying at one point, "We went at this very hard to see if we could make a case."
Comey, for years a registered Republican who said he's no longer registered with a political party, was deputy attorney general in the George W. Bush administration and was appointed in 2013 to a 10-year term as FBI director by President Obama. He would still be on the job if Clinton were elected president.
He drew distinctions between the Clinton probe and last year's prosecution of former CIA Director David Petraeus, who pleaded guilty to sharing classified information with his biographer. Petraeus, Comey said, retained a "vast quantity" of classified information and lied to the FBI about it.
"He admitted he knew that was the wrong thing to do," Comey said. "That is a perfect illustration of the kind of cases that get prosecuted. In my mind, it illustrates importantly the distinction to this case."
Despite the no-prosecution decision, Comey had rebuked Clinton and her aides on Tuesday as being "extremely careless" in their handling of classified information and contradicted many of the explanations she's put forward.
The investigation formally ended Wednesday when Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced that no charges would be filed.
____
Follow Eric Tucker at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP , Matthew Daly at http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC
? 記得當年，老布什的競選方略就是這個。嘲笑後被認為也是個辦法。 -流沙河上- ♂ 給 流沙河上 發送悄悄話 流沙河上 的博客首頁 流沙河上 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (1 reads) 07/06/2016 postreply 15:26:19
? 花了7百萬美元，就為證明希拉裏犯了法，但無罪！可以放心地選總統了！哈哈！ -JustAsked- ♀ 給 JustAsked 發送悄悄話 JustAsked 的博客首頁 JustAsked 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (0 reads) 07/06/2016 postreply 19:38:14
helluva election, lesser of two evils?
來源: TJKCB 於 2016-07-06 09:22:57 [檔案] [博客] [轉至博客] [舊帖] [給我悄悄話] 本文已被閱讀：2038 次 (97285 bytes)
你去聽今天的hearing 好了。要討論就事論事，沒有必要judge 他人。否則請繞道。
來源: 笑薇. 於 2016-07-07 21:36:4
希拉裏思維不夠精細，犯下低級錯誤所以可以原諒；但她同時又精細的讓人逮不到。真是大智若愚，遊戲於是與非，正與反。
來源: 流沙河上 於 2016-07-07 18:38:34
Politics
The real shame of Hillary's email shenanigans
The Week 14 hours ago .
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The ugly reality of America in 2016 is that laws are for the little people. The facts of Hillary Clinton's email scandal are clear. She routed most of her email as secretary of state through a personal server. This disregarded State Department security procedures. It was almost certainly done for political purposes, to get around government record-keeping laws. Because her private email server was woefully unsecure (for several months, her emails weren't even encrypted), the emails of the secretary of state of the United States almost certainly ended up in the hands of foreign powers like Russia and China. What's more, her response to this unfolding scandal has been the familiar Clinton pattern ...
敬重Comey，FBI Director
(2016-07-07 14:35:25) 下一個
60年出生。55歲。芝加哥大學法學院畢業。2013年9月出任FBI Director。
他親自指導FBI調查Hillary郵件案件調查。這次調查結果可以對美國2016年大選有深遠影響。他根據事實，做出決定，不對Hillary起訴。在和大法官，總統，任何人討論之前，他自己決定到媒體公開FBI和他自己的最終決定，為的是要給公眾這次調查的透明度。
今天四個多小時，全國媒體直播，在國會聽證裏，鎮靜有條理地說明FBI的決定基礎。同時，他也很坦誠說明Hillary隨意對待國家機密，若在他的管轄之下，應該受到應有處分（仍然不到起訴的程度）。
他的個人政黨傾向是共和黨。他在2008年和2012年大選中都支持共和黨的候選人。他知道共和黨對這次調查的期望。但是，他不被任何政黨，個人喜好，和外界的影響，根據事實和美國的憲法和法律，堅持不起訴Hillary。
雖然我也很吃驚沒有起訴Hillary，我還是敬重Comey。一個有骨氣，有領袖品質的人，應該能夠客觀處理事務，不被自己的感情感覺所左右。
http://blog.wenxuecity.com/myblog/64516/201607/1106001.html
PS: "Two things are important to me: 1) my family and friends; and 2) my integrity. " I heard his statement driving hearing MSNBC Sirius X radio.
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helluva election, lesser of two evils?
來源: TJKCB 於 2016-07-06 09:22:57 [檔案] [博客] [轉至博客] [舊帖] [給我悄悄話] 本文已被閱讀：1647 次 (97285 bytes)
? 對，都是政客。 如今政治家已經不存在了。 -SleepyLagoon- ♀ 給 SleepyLagoon 發送悄悄話 SleepyLagoon 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (2 reads) 07/06/2016 postreply 05:41:39
? 就那麽幾年任期，隻能客一下了。。不能家了 -zhuangqiushui- ♀ 給 zhuangqiushui 發送悄悄話 zhuangqiushui 的博客首頁 zhuangqiushui 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (3 reads) 07/06/2016 postreply 05:44:03
? CNN: FBI 揭示希拉裏郵件門中的謊言。希拉裏撒謊，撒謊，再撒謊。 - ThisMyWords - ♂ 給 ThisMyWords 發送悄悄話 ThisMyWords 的個人群組 (211 bytes) (1253 reads) 07/05/2016 20:53:21
? 你能夠相信從她嘴裏透出的任何話嗎？ - ThisMyWords - ♂ 給 ThisMyWords 發送悄悄話 ThisMyWords 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (9 reads) 07/05/2016 20:55:24
? 雖然FBI沒有建議criminal charge， 但她犯下如此錯誤，她還有資格競選總統？ - ThisMyWords - ♂ 給 ThisMyWords 發送悄悄話 ThisMyWords 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (4 reads) 07/05/2016 21:01:03
? 真是大盜竊國。 - ThisMyWords - ♂ 給 ThisMyWords 發送悄悄話 ThisMyWords 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (2 reads) 07/05/2016 21:02:05
? 如果這事發生在Trump身上，媒體又做如何反應？ - ThisMyWords - ♂ 給 ThisMyWords 發送悄悄話 ThisMyWords 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (3 reads) 07/05/2016 21:04:25
? 看看左派媒體將不斷為希拉裏洗白，報道希拉裏FBI沒有 criminal charge。洗白！！！ - ThisMyWords - ♂ 給 ThisMyWords 發送悄悄話 ThisMyWords 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (3 reads) 07/05/2016 21:06:58
? This is a bribe! - F18P - ♂ 給 F18P 發送悄悄話 F18P 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (0 reads) 07/05/2016 21:42:16
? Bill偶遇AG Lynch, Lynch 聲明尊重FBI， 希拉裏客串FBI， Lynch Ob和希拉裏同程空軍一號， - ThisMyWords - ♂ 給 ThisMyWords 發送悄悄話 ThisMyWords 的個人群組 (149 bytes) (36 reads) 07/05/2016 21:14:15
? 110封含有classifed郵件，8封含top secrete的郵件在希拉裏私人服務器上，隻要你我有其中一封，你我將被戴上手銬 - ThisMyWords - ♂ 給 ThisMyWords 發送悄悄話 ThisMyWords 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (6 reads) 07/05/2016 21:19:04
? 希拉裏是個特別例外，淩駕法律之上，too big to fail - ThisMyWords - ♂ 給 ThisMyWords 發送悄悄話 ThisMyWords 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (3 reads) 07/05/2016 21:25:02
? 這個結果不錯了。如果判希拉裏被起訴，喪失被選權，讓桑德斯上陣，川普就沒有贏的希望了。 - azcactus - ♀ 給 azcactus 發送悄悄話 azcactus 的博客首頁 azcactus 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (2 reads) 07/05/2016 23:06:44
? 難道你認為他現在有贏的希望？ - 笑薇. - ♀ 給 笑薇. 發送悄悄話 笑薇. 的博客首頁 笑薇. 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (5 reads) 07/05/2016 23:30:12
? 雖然Trump有素質上的問題，但讓他和支持者們贏一次給這個腐敗透頂的政治體係一次衝擊也未尚不可。 - 窗外細雨 - ♀ 給 窗外細雨 發送悄悄話 窗外細雨 的博客首頁 窗外細雨 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (2 reads) 07/06/2016 00:27:00
? 給Trump四年很短，壞事也做不了太多。也可以接受。 - 窗外細雨 - ♀ 給 窗外細雨 發送悄悄話 窗外細雨 的博客首頁 窗外細雨 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (1 reads) 07/06/2016 00:28:46
? 個人素質是小case，他單槍匹馬和一個強大的係統鬥爭，怎麽可能贏？ - 笑薇. - ♀ 給 笑薇. 發送悄悄話 笑薇. 的博客首頁 笑薇. 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (1 reads) 07/06/2016 01:17:08
? 他有個團隊。 - ThisMyWords - ♂ 給 ThisMyWords 發送悄悄話 ThisMyWords 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (1 reads) 07/06/2016 05:39:17
? 他的團隊是他的子女和妻子，再加上幾百個熱情的工作人員，與一個自裏跟時代開始 - 笑薇. - ♀ 給 笑薇. 發送悄悄話 笑薇. 的博客首頁 笑薇. 的個人群組 (275 bytes) (15 reads) 07/06/2016 06:45:15
? 猶如個體戶對國家。贏得了嗎？ - 笑薇. - ♀ 給 笑薇. 發送悄悄話 笑薇. 的博客首頁 笑薇. 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (0 reads) 07/06/2016 07:01:31
? 三的字是個軟骨頭, 別指望他會贏。 - ThisMyWords - ♂ 給 ThisMyWords 發送悄悄話 ThisMyWords 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (0 reads) 07/06/2016 07:25:35
? 結論不太合邏輯。她違法了，撒謊了，用私人email討論最高機密，但是，決定不起訴她。有評論說，FBI有史以來 - 笑薇. - ♀ 給 笑薇. 發送悄悄話 笑薇. 的博客首頁 笑薇. 的個人群組 (68 bytes) (137 reads) 07/05/2016 23:34:16
? 所調查的事實對希拉裏不利，可是結論有利。 - 笑薇. - ♀ 給 笑薇. 發送悄悄話 笑薇. 的博客首頁 笑薇. 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (3 reads) 07/05/2016 23:42:22
? 要是民主黨的superdelegates在DNC上投票Sanders成為Nominee, 那才能說明美利堅的政治文明和成熟。 - 窗外細雨 - ♀ 給 窗外細雨 發送悄悄話 窗外細雨 的博客首頁 窗外細雨 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (8 reads) 07/06/2016 00:12:53
? 雖然FBI不建議起訟H, 但此人的素質一目了然。本人素來對Obama持有肯定的態度，但因此事大打折扣。 - 窗外細雨 - ♀ 給 窗外細雨 發送悄悄話 窗外細雨 的博客首頁 窗外細雨 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (4 reads) 07/06/2016 00:17:47
? Obama應該明白Sanders的能力和人品和Vision. 好像Obama 和Clintons之間八年前已有Agreement - 窗外細雨 - ♀ 給 窗外細雨 發送悄悄話 窗外細雨 的博客首頁 窗外細雨 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (5 reads) 07/06/2016 00:21:40
? 競選的不是人品，也不是政見。美國的選舉就是個reality show。百姓的票不count。地道的假民主。 - 笑薇. - ♀ 給 笑薇. 發送悄悄話 笑薇. 的博客首頁 笑薇. 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (4 reads) 07/06/2016 01:20:19
? 此次大選尤甚，當然小布什和戈爾那屆也算。 - 等等看看 - ♀ 給 等等看看 發送悄悄話 等等看看 的博客首頁 等等看看 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (1 reads) 07/06/2016 08:53:01
? super delegates 怎麽可能翻盤？ sanders 不代表他們的利益。美式民主世界上獨一無二，還大言不慚 - 笑薇. - ♀ 給 笑薇. 發送悄悄話 笑薇. 的博客首頁 笑薇. 的個人群組 (53 bytes) (12 reads) 07/06/2016 01:23:40
? 一個騙子一個流氓，旗鼓相當。 - NJM - ♂ 給 NJM 發送悄悄話 NJM 的個人群組 (23 bytes) (3 reads) 07/06/2016 06:19:42
? 一個證實了的騙子。 - ThisMyWords - ♂ 給 ThisMyWords 發送悄悄話 ThisMyWords 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (2 reads) 07/06/2016 07:29:09
? 和一個證偽的流氓。 - ThisMyWords - ♂ 給 ThisMyWords 發送悄悄話 ThisMyWords 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (1 reads) 07/06/2016 07:32:01
? Law is for the little people - pingjiang06 - ♂ 給 pingjiang06 發送悄悄話 pingjiang06 的博客首頁 pingjiang06 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (3 reads) 07/06/2016 06:54:13
? 大人物製定法律為的是維護無權無勢的平民？如此的話，就不會百姓投票自娛自樂，精英投票選總統。 - 笑薇. - ♀ 給 笑薇. 發送悄悄話 笑薇. 的博客首頁 笑薇. 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (1 reads) 07/06/2016 07:04:51
? 另一個角度，law是規定小民行為的。大人物above the law。這麽解釋在理。 - 笑薇. - ♀ 給 笑薇. 發送悄悄話 笑薇. 的博客首頁 笑薇. 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (0 reads) 07/06/2016 08:31:00
? 此話也透著幾分真相。 - ThisMyWords - ♂ 給 ThisMyWords 發送悄悄話 ThisMyWords 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (0 reads) 07/06/2016 07:27:19
? 她撒謊了又怎樣？這麽大的事件，花了納稅人這麽多錢，還不是以希娘繼續笑傲江湖為結束嗎？ - 等等看看 - ♀ 給 等等看看 發送悄悄話 等等看看 的博客首頁 等等看看 的個人群組 (251 bytes) (2 reads) 07/06/2016 09:00:06
? Donald Trump SLAMS Loretta Lynch Bill Clinton Meeting - JustAsked - ♀ 給 JustAsked 發送悄悄話 JustAsked 的博客首頁 JustAsked 的個人群組 (146 bytes) (921 reads) 07/05/2016 20:01:56
? 體製外的人就是有理也沒有力。再加上他自己的不慎，勢頭已過。 - 笑薇. - ♀ 給 笑薇. 發送悄悄話 笑薇. 的博客首頁 笑薇. 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (2