However, information therein is indisputably relevant to every undecided registered voter. The email scandal that Hillary Clinton ignited by using her personal unsecured private server to transmit and receive some of the most sensitive information in the U.S. government has quietly switched gears. Over the last few days it was announced the FBI investigation has widened to include potential Clinton accomplices, aides who may or may not testify against her under oath when push comes to shove. Now we learn that Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch confirmed to Congress on Wednesday that career Justice Department attorneys are now working with FBI agents handling the investigation.
Why is this important? For starters, according to legal experts, the appointment of career Justice Department attorneys, as opposed to political ones, shows the FBI probe has “matured,” giving agents access to the U.S. government’s full investigative process that includes subpoena power for individuals, business or phone records, as well as witnesses. In addition, career Justice Department attorneys would be necessary to indict Mrs. Clinton and, or, her aides.
Mrs. Clinton may continue to laugh off the investigation on the campaign trail, but the reality should be anything but humorous to political donors and hard-core supporters. “If the FBI makes the case that Hillary Clinton mishandled classified information and put America’s security at risk, will you prosecute the case?” Republican Congressman John Carter asked Lynch during yesterday’s hearing.
“Do you know of any efforts underway to undermine the FBI’s investigation? And please look the American people in the eye and tell us what your position is as you are the chief prosecutor of the United States,” he pressed.
Lynch replied, “…that matter is being handled by career independent law enforcement agents, FBI agents as well as the career independent attorneys in the Department of Justice. They follow the evidence, they look at the law and they’ll make a recommendation to me when the time is appropriate.”
The response indicates that even though Pres. Obama has tried to present the notion that Mrs. Clinton is somehow not the focus of a criminal FBI investigation, the very real investigation has progressed beyond the administration’s ability to control political spin.
National Security Defense attorney Edward MacMahon, who routinely handles cases involving the handling of classified information, seems to agree that the FBI’s investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s handling of top-secret information has significantly broadened its scope.
MacMahon said yesterday, “Lynch appears to be sending a message that there is no need for a special prosecutor because she has assigned career Justice Department lawyers, and not political appointees, to work with FBI agents on the Clinton matter.”
Meanwhile, the Obama administration has been criticized for treating the entire FBI investigation like so much fuss over nothing important. President Obama has stated that the transmission of classified information on Clinton’s unsecured, personal server did not jeopardize national security. Last month, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Clinton was not the target of the FBI probe, and it was not “trending” towards Clinton.
Nevertheless, as the investigation continues to heat up it has become more difficult for the White House to nonchalantly dismiss Clinton’s woes as she does on the campaign trail. According to experts, the assignment of US attorneys means the case is definitely proceeding.
“As a general matter, a U.S. attorney is assigned as an FBI investigation progresses. The partnership with the U.S. attorney allows the FBI to use the investigation tools of the U.S. government, including subpoenas for evidence, business or phone records, as well as witnesses. And you need (a) U.S. attorney to convene a grand jury,” said MacMahon.
A minimum of 1,730 Clinton emails from her time as Secretary of State contain classified information, and the rest held by the State Department must be released by the end of the month based on a federal court imposed timetable. It is not clear whether the State Department has saved the most damaging Clinton communications for last. One of the newly declassified 2012 emails sent four days after the Benghazi terrorist attack, includes highly sensitive information about the evacuation of Americans from Tunisia. Before it was redacted, the email included intelligence called the B 1.4 (g) exception which pertains to “vulnerabilities or capabilities” to “national security including defense against transnational terrorism.”
