“Pig-Pen” and his perpetual cloud of dirt.
It follows him wherever he goes and engulfs whatever
he does. The beleaguered character in the comic strip “Peanuts” cannot
seem to rid himself of the dirt, despite his best efforts. At times, he
seems oblivious to the cloud. Or in denial.
Remind you of Hillary Clinton? Metaphorically, that is.
The dirt cloud of scandal has followed Clinton
incessantly for years. Not just a single, isolated scandal… but several.
Travelgate, Whitewater, cattle futures, Benghazi, private email server,
Clinton Foundation, Wall Street speeches, you name it.
It’s one ignominious incident after another. And all of them are of her own making.
Clinton tends to stretch the bounds of propriety,
dangling her foot over the legal lines. And her actions beckon
political calamity. Thus, the interminable cloud.
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But why? Doesn’t she ever tire of the swirling dust and dirt? Her critics claim she feels entitled or driven by greed.
You’ve heard the other claim: that laws are a mere nuisance which don’t apply to her.
Most people shaken by scandal, dial it back. But the hits keep on coming for Clinton.
She’s been likened to a runaway train that can’t (or
won’t) activate its brakes. Whatever her reasons, the non-stop drama of
controversies have taken a toll: 67 percent say Clinton is lying about
how she handled her emails, and two-thirds believe she is downright
dishonest.
Her latest scandal kicks up dirt on the FBI for its bewildering (see also, “stupefying”) decision to recommend that Clinton
not
be criminally prosecuted under the federal Espionage Act for
mishandling classified documents and jeopardizing national security as
Secretary of State. It seems that Clinton’s close friend shoveled
truck-loads of money to the wife of the FBI deputy director overseeing
the agency’s investigation of Clinton.
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe was the money man.
Through political groups he controls, he saw to it that Dr. Jill McCabe
received more than $ 675,000 for her state senate race, according to
The Wall Street Journal. It just so happens that her husband, Andrew
McCabe, is second in command at the FBI and, as such, likely played a
key role in allowing Clinton to escape criminal prosecution. No one has
yet proven that Clinton’s fingerprints are on the bags of money. But
her longtime friend and ally, Gov. McAuliffe, doesn’t deny he engineered
the cash.
A little history lesson is in order. McAuliffe was Bill Clinton’s chief fundraiser back in the day.
He’s a guy who had the magic touch with money.
He could conjure up hundreds of millions of dollars without breaking a sweat.
He
personally secured the loan so Hillary and Bill could buy their 11 room Dutch colonial in stately Chappaqua, New York.
Since money is the mother’s milk of politics, he’s a nice friend to have when you get in a jam.
The biggest jam of Hillary Clinton’s life was (and
is) the email scandal. More than 2,000 classified documents were found
on her personal server in the very home McAuliffe helped her buy –
clearly an unauthorized place under the law.
She was facing an indictment for serious crimes which
would end her bid for the presidency. Even worse, if convicted she
might well be residing in a prison instead of the White House.
Did McAuliffe come to Clinton’s rescue yet again? Is
that what the cash to Dr. McCabe was really for? To influence her
husband’s investigation of Clinton? Dirtier things have happened in
politics.
The FBI issued a statement denying corruption by
insisting that McCabe did not begin his oversight of the agency’s
investigation of Clinton until
after his wife’s campaign ended.
Really?
We are supposed to accept that when he was head of
the Washington field office (and later when he was promoted to the
agency’s number 3 position) he had nothing whatsoever to do with the
criminal probe? Hard to believe.
And even if that is true, what difference does it
make that his wife’s campaign had ended? She still got the money. She
was still beholden or grateful to Clinton’s close friend and the
Democratic party for their financial support of her, wasn’t she?
As her husband, Deputy Director McCabe can hardly be
described as an indifferent bystander. Spouses tend to support one
another. That is exactly why ethics advisers at the bureau told him to
recuse himself from public corruption cases during his wife’s senate
race.
The conflict of interest is glaring. But that
conflict does not suddenly and magically end at the conclusion of his
wife’s campaign.
At the very least, the
appearance of
impropriety should have been enough for McCabe to disassociate himself
from the criminal investigation of Clinton. Moreover, FBI Director James
Comey should have demanded it. That they declined to do so adds even
more suspicion to those who believe “the fix was in” not to prosecute
her.
At least 5 people received immunity in connection with the case. Others took the Fifth.
Clinton herself couldn’t manage to recall much of
anything during her relatively brief interview with the FBI. Her name
and date of birth seemed about all she could add to the discussion.
It’s a wonder she even remembered being Secretary of State.
Days later, Director Comey held a news briefing in
which he laid out a case of how Clinton was grossly negligent under the
Espionage Act (although he called it something else –“extremely
careless”), but announced he would recommend to the Department of
Justice no prosecution. FBI agents and lawyers were furious, according
to reporting by Fox News.
Comey’s decision makes no legal sense… which only fuels the belief that something or someone else triggered the outcome.
All along Clinton seemed confident she would not be criminally charged. Did she know something we didn’t know?
The strange case of the McCabes may hold the answer.
Or maybe it is only one of several political machinations that were
brought to bear.
The whole sordid episode is just another chapter in the cloud of dirt and scandal that hovers over Hillary Clinton.
It never goes away.
Like “Pig-Pen”. Without the comedy.
