Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Nominating a Presidential Candidate Under Active FBI Investigation Is An Incredibly Risky Gamble
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2016/03/nominating-a-presidential-candidate-under-active-fbi-investigation-is-an-incredibly-risky-gambleNominating a Presidential Candidate Under Active FBI Investigation Is An Incredibly Risky Gamble
Unless, of course, there is some kind of separate system of justice for the powerful…
by Nathan J. Robinson
The 2016 election has many bizarre aspects, but surely one of the most bizarre is the fact that one of the main presidential candidates is under active investigation by the FBI, and that this is somehow being treated as unimportant or inconsequential.
snip
Examine, for instance, the case of Bryan Nishimura, a Naval reservist who deployed during Afghanistan during 2007 and 2008. Nishimura was prosecuted when he stored classified information on unsecured devices. In its press release announcing Nishimura’s plea agreement, the FBI summarized the facts as follows:
In his role as a Regional Engineer for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, Nishimura had access to classified briefings and digital records that could only be retained and viewed on authorized government computers. Nishimura, however, caused the materials to be downloaded and stored on his personal, unclassified electronic devices and storage media. He carried such classified materials on his unauthorized media when he traveled off-base in Afghanistan and, ultimately, carried those materials back to the United States at the end of his deployment. In the United States, Nishimura continued to maintain the information on unclassified systems in unauthorized locations, and copied the materials onto at least one additional unauthorized and unclassified system… The investigation did not reveal evidence that Nishimura intended to distribute classified information to unauthorized personnel.
See if you can find any meaningful distinction between Nishimura’s conduct and Clinton’s. Just as with Clinton, nobody alleges that the action caused harm, or that Nishimura used it for any nefarious purposes. Just as with Clinton, nobody alleges that Nishimura disclosed or intended to disclose the information to any unauthorized person. The only issue here is that Nishimura kept classified materials on unauthorized media, precisely the same thing Clinton is alleged to have done.
The same is true in the case of John Deutch, a CIA officer whose laptops were found to contain classified material. Deutch had agreed to plead to a misdemeanor offense of mishandling classified documents when he was pardoned by Bill Clinton. And then there was the case of Wen Ho Lee, relentlessly hounded by the government and put in solitary confinement for nine months on suspicion of spying after downloading classified information, was a particularly heinous low point. And as Glenn Greenwald has documented, there are plenty of other examples to choose from:
NSA whistleblower Tom Drake, for instance, faced years in prison, and ultimately had his career destroyed, based on the Obama DOJ’s claims that he “mishandled” classified information (it included information that was not formally classified at the time but was retroactively decreed to be such)… Last year, a Naval officer was convicted of mishandling classified information also in the absence of any intent to distribute it.
It’s strange, then, for Ruth Marcus (and the others who insist that Clinton’s conduct was lawful) to dwell on the differences between Clinton’s behavior and David Petraeus’s, while failing to mention any relevant differences between Clinton’s case and that of Nishimura or Deutch.
Clinton’s own defenses haven’t been particularly reassuring, either. Initially, Clinton’s campaign insisted that none of the material sent on the unsecured server was classified: “Hillary didn’t send any classified materials over email: Hillary only used her personal account for unclassified email.” Then, the Clinton campaign admitted that classified information had been sent, but insisted that the initial statement was still simultaneously true because none of the material was “marked” classified “at the time.” That defense was laughable on its face, because everyone at every level of the State Department is trained to recognize what sort of information is presumptively classified and should be handled accordingly. Of all people, the highly experienced Hillary Clinton would be the last to be oblivious to basic departmental protocol.
snip
44 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
[link:
|
Learn the difference.
Welcome to DU.
Your concern is duly noted. 
I won't have anything to do with it. Never seen anything as dumb as nominating a unpopular candidate under active investigation. What could go wrong? 
