Legal points of view on the latest email investigation. Caveat from Volokh Conspiracy

American Thinker today is a treasure trove of legal commentary.

James G. Wiles: Don't Be Fooled: Hillarygate Probe Is Now a Formal Federal Criminal Investigation   "In other words: the Beast is now fully awake."

It’s called grand jury secrecy. Now that Hillarygate is, for the first time, a grand jury investigation, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) prohibits the FBI and prosecutors from saying anything about "matters occurring before the grand jury." Their lips are sealed.

 "Not for the first time, Mrs. Clinton is being totally disingenuous with the voters (and the media). She is also making FBI director Comey into her personal punching bag. And she's doing it because she knows that the director can't fight back.

"In this, Mrs. Clinton is simply repeating a tactic which she and her catspaw Sidney Blumenthal used to good effect during the Whitewater, Travelgate, and Monica Lewinsky investigations in the 1990s. And that tactic worked." . . . 

Daniel John Sobieski: "Liar Reid Slams Comey"  "The hypocritical Democrats doth protest too much. They are the ones who have sanctioned abuse by government agencies to influence elections. All Comey has done is his job -- to keep Congress updated on his testimony and investigations. He also may have done a great patriotic service for his country by keeping a possible felon out of the Oval Office. He may well have prevented a constitutional crisis that would make Watergate look like, well, a third-rate burglary."

J. Marsolo: Did Comey know Obama could be Hillary's star witness?
 . . . "Hillary would argue, How can I have the intent to violate the law when the president knows I use the private email system he uses to contact me?  Leaving aside that it is Hillary making the argument, it is a reasonable and powerful defense against the charges." . . .

From The Volokh Conspiracy, a blog written mostly by law professors and anchored by Eugene Volokh.   Was it legal for the FBI to expand the Weiner email search to target Hillary Clinton’s emails?

"If the FBI was searching Weiner’s computer, it presumably had a warrant authorizing the search of the computer only for Weiner’s communications with underage girls. If that is correct, going from that narrow search to a broader search of Clinton’s emails raises two potential problems for the FBI."

Black Lives Matter! Chicago Soars Past 600 Homicides After Bloody October

CBS Chicago  "With 78 homicides, October was the second deadliest month of 2016, and Chicago surpassed 600 homicides for the first time in more than a decade.

The last time Chicago had at least 600 homicides in a single year was 2003.

"Homicides and non-fatal shootings have skyrocketed in 2016, with 605 homicides and more than 3,600 shooting victims through the end of October.

"In October, there were 78 homicides and 427 shooting victims. Only August had more homicides, when 90 people were slain in Chicago. It was the bloodiest month in the city in 20 years.

"The city is on pace for 726 homicides in 2016, a number not seen since the late 1990s." . . .

To sum up so far: The 5 Biggest Revelations About Hillary Clinton From WikiLeaks

Townhall  Take this to your current events class, if you have one. Trigger warning for snowflakes: contains the phrase, "Hillary Clinton isn’t fit".

"Whether you’re a fan of Julian Assange or not (I most certainly am not), it’s impossible to deny that the WikiLeaks hack has provided Americans with a secret keyhole view into the dingy and sordid backrooms where Hillary Clinton does her business. WikiLeaks has released an enormous amount of information and some of it definitively shows that Hillary Clinton isn’t fit to be President." . . .

Related: Dennis Prager warns parents of daughters not to think of Hillary as a role model: 

. . . "But to those Democrats who will vote for Clinton but who are nevertheless able to acknowledge Hillary Clinton's extraordinary ethical defects, I make the following appeal: Do not believe, let alone claim, that having her as president, if she is elected, will be a good thing for your daughters."

Huma is cooperating with the FBI

Before the Flood of Boredom

Watts Up With That

"I watched the new Leonardo DiCaprio climate epic so you don’t have to. The following 5 minute summary will save you an hour and a half of your life which you will otherwise never get back."

"Quite apart from DiCaprio racking up an impressive number of air miles, in my opinion the video contained nothing new or exciting. The scariest moment was President Obama insisting that the Paris agreement is only the beginning of the pain, but we kind of knew that anyway.

"Dated content, tired rehashed conspiracies. The most likely prognosis is a rapid one way journey to the digital graveyard."

Clinton Adviser Neera Tanden’s Greatest Hits

Can we assume Tanden will never again appear as a panelist on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace?

Lifezette

"Courtesy of WikiLeaks, Hillary's most brutally honest aide sounds off uncensored"

"An article detailing the list of likely candidates for chief of staff in a potential Clinton White House, published by Politico Thursday, included a rather surprising choice — Neera Tanden.
. . . 

On Clinton's inability to apologize sincerely: "Everyone wants her to apologize. And she should. Apologies are like her Achilles heel. But she didn't seem like a b**** in the interview. And she said the word sorry. She will get to a full apology in a few interviws [sic]."

" 'I know this email thing isn't on the level. I'm fully aware of that. But her inability to just do a national interview and communicate genuine feelings of remorse and regret is now, I fear, becoming a character problem (more so than honesty).' "

. . . 

"On Larry Lessig: "I f***ing hate that guy. Like I'd like to kick the sh** out of him on Twitter...but I know that is dumb."

"On Hillary's scandalous history: "I have dealt w/ my fair share of Hillary scandals. I have had experience w/her going to a point where she is toying w/legal niceties to make sure every I is dotted, but actually secretly measuring if the velocity is moving up or down on the scandal. Have no idea if that's happening here.' "

"On Hillary Clinton's knack for politics: "God. Her instincts are suboptimal." . . .

"I mean it makes my life more difficult after telling every reporter I know she's actually progressive but that is really the smallest of issues. It worries me more that she doesn't seem to know what planet we are all living in at the moment."

Anthony Weiner in pictures

No, not those pictures.

legalinsurrection.com

Hacked email suggests Donna Brazile leaked question to Hillary Clinton campaign ahead of CNN primary debate

Business Insider

. . . " 'One of the questions directed to HRC tomorrow is from a woman with a rash," Brazile emailed John Podesta, Clinton's campaign chairman, and Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton's communications director.

"Brazile added: "Her family has lead poison and she will ask what, if anything, will Hillary do as president to help the ppl of Flint."

"That exact question was not asked the next night at the debate in Flint, Michigan. But Mikki Wade, a public-housing program manager who subsequently said in an interview that her son had developed a rash from the contaminated water, asked Clinton about the situation with the water in Flint.

" 'If elected president, what course will you take to regain my trust in government?" Wade asked.

"In October, another WikiLeaks email suggested that Brazile leaked a question to Clinton in advance of a CNN town-hall event in Ohio." . . .

Today in Hillaryworld

Comey Is Not the One Whose Unorthodox Actions Are Casting a Cloud over the Election  "July: Comey has exonerated me! October: Comey is undermining our republic!"
. . . "Mrs. Clinton has worn it like a badge of honor since July. Indeed, she has contorted it into a wholesale exoneration, which it most certainly was not. 
"Just to remind those whose memories seem so conveniently to fail, Comey is the FBI director, not a Justice Department prosecutor, much less the attorney general. The FBI is not supposed to exercise prosecutorial discretion. The FBI is not supposed to decide whether the subject of a criminal investigation gets indicted. "

Chicago Tribune Columnist Urges Democrats to Dump Clinton
"The FBI announcement that it is looking afresh at Hillary Clinton’s emails means that Democrats should tell their presidential nominee to step down and allow her running mate Sen. Tim Kaine to take her place, Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass writes." . . .



Hillary’s Two Official Favors To Morocco Resulted In $28 Million For Clinton Foundation  "Clinton and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Lisa Jackson tried to shut down the Florida-based Mosaic Company in 2011, operator of America’s largest phosphate mining facility."

Against Hillary's Malevolent Matriarchy; "What feminists can learn from Melania Trump."
"A "strong" liberal woman is one who hammers you about your obligation to fork-out for her Trojans and her Trivora. And if birth control fails our liberated libertine, then you're on the hook for her abortions and abortifacients. And don't dare doubt any of the intemperate charges leveled by this prototype liberal succubus against a man, any man. To doubt her is to harm her."

Hillary Declares War on Comey
"There have been numerous developments today in the reopening of the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton, most notably the declaration of war by Clinton World on James Comey."

That depends on what the 
meaning of "re-open" is.


FLASHBACK: Harry Reid Says “No One Can Question Comey” Over Hillary’s Emails…

"Harry will discover the hard way what happens when those he's depended on to remain corrupt are no longer around to protect him. Then there's those who will eagerly give him up in a heartbeat to save their own miserable hides from prison."
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Thomas Lifson: The presidential race has changed because The Awful Truth about the Clintons is sinking in  "I admit that my jaw dropped yesterday as I watched Doug Schoen announce that he is no longer able to support Hillary Clinton for president, as described on these pages by Jeannie DeAngelis.  Anyone who has watched national politics closely over the last quarter-century knows that Schoen is smart and principled and has deep connections with the Clintons.  That he would withdraw his support is a signal moment, in the literal sense, telling other principled Dems that the stink is just too much." . . .

IMPORTANT: If You Want To CHANGE Your Vote – Here’s WHERE & HOW You Can Do It

Clash Daily "You’ve cast your early ballot and are feeling buyer’s remorse… now what?

"Here’s what you can do.

"Let’s say you just learned that your candidate was not QUITE what you thought, and you want a do-over. Can you do that? The answer is … ‘maybe’.

"That will depend on where you live.

"Here is a report on who can and how:

Late posts on Hillary

Flashback: Bill Clinton cheered 11th hour indictment that doomed Bush re-election  "That's because 24 years ago, as former President George H.W. Bush was surging back against challenger Bill Clinton, a special prosecutor raised new charges against Bush in the Iran-Contra probe, prompting Clinton to claim he was running against a "culture of corruption.' "

Not much political impact so far

Chicago Tribune Columnist Urges Democrats to Dump Clinton
"Kass said that "during this presidential campaign, Americans were confronted with a two-tiered system of federal justice: one for standards for the Clintons and one for the peasants,” and that it is up to the people to keep her out of public office."

Former Attorney General Holder and Other Former DOJ Officials 
Pen Letter Criticizing Comey  "This is what Hillary was working on today. They of course leave out and media refuses to put in that Comey had an obligation to update his testimony to Congress. Hillary is coming dangerously close to another crime, that is attempting to obstruct an investigation and intimidate the investigator."

"Via ABC:" . . .

Commentaries on the Clinton-Huma-Weiner-Comey brouhaha

NRO: I Guess the Landslide Is Off . . . "I was clearly wrong again, underestimating again the appeal of Trump (and/or the repulsiveness of Clinton). I still think Clinton will win easily, but there’s no evidence of a landslide (winning by 10 percent or more) at this time." . . .

David French: The FBI’s October Surprise Is Devastating for Hillary Clinton  . . . "Third, unless the FBI announces the investigation and clears her within the span of basically one work week (an action that would be deeply problematic on its own terms), Hillary’s closing argument to the American people is going to be that Donald Trump is so dangerous that it’s worth gambling your vote on a woman under current criminal investigation." . . .

Jonathan F. Keiler: Comey's Mess  . . . "Comey took it upon himself, stepping into a politically charged situation he could have avoided simply by doing his duty as a federal policeman.  Comey could have referred the case to Justice for Loretta Lynch to take the embarrassing step of refusing to empanel a grand jury, or simply resigned on principle if he was pressured to do otherwise.  Instead, he tried to have it both ways, trying to accommodate Clinton, Loretta Lynch, and the president by finding clever excuses to overlook Hillary's obvious criminality while excoriating her ethically." . . . Is Huma Abedin open to perjury charges?

Hillary’s bogus ‘unprecedented’ complaint about Comey  . . . "Hillary knows full well that special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh actually indicted Casper Weinberger four days prior to Bill Clinton's election in 1992. As with almost everything Hillary does, she lies.

"As for unprecedented: Never before have we had a presidential candidate who:

- As Secretary of State used a private server and broke the nation's security laws by trafficking classified documents on non-secure devices- Unilaterally decided which E mails to dump. Does anyone actually believe that the number she destroyed was only 33,000? 

- As Secretary of State approved the sale of uranium reserves to the Russians and diverted money from the Haitians to her friends and family. She has taken kickbacks throughout her adult life starting with the $100,000 for cattle futures almost 40 years ago. 

- When answering questions to the FBI and Judicial Watch her most favorite go-to answer was I do not recall. This has been her favorite answer throughout her adult life.  . . . 

- Had a White House, State Department, Justice Department and others who also violated security laws and therefore spent their time protecting the Presidential candidate instead of working for the American people. 

- Had subordinates, who like her, were willing to commit perjury to protect themselves and her.- Had an FBI director and Attorney General who essentially admit that she violated the law but decided that she might not understand the law so wouldn't charge her. That is mind-boggling. 

- Had a media that was so in the tank that they have never cared what she actually did or said. Can anyone imagine the reporting on WikiLeaks if it were her opponent’s secrets being revealed?

. . . "The media, Democrats and Hollywood knew who they were getting with Hillary, a law breaker, perjurer and serial liar, and they always looked the other way.  But now they are outraged that someone in Government might actually do their job because they want power, nothing else." . . .

Are the Democrats victims of their identity politics? . . . "Why didn't one Democrat stand up against Obamacare or call on Mrs. Clinton to put country over party?" . . .

Clinton’s State Department: A RICO Enterprise

Andrew C. McCarthy

"She appears to have used her official powers to do favors for major Clinton Foundation donors."

McCarthy

. . . "One thing, however, is already clear. Whatever the relevance of the new e-mails to the probe of Clinton’s classified-information transgressions and attempt to destroy thousands of emails, these offenses may pale in comparison with Hillary Clinton’s most audacious violations of law: Crimes that should still be under investigation; crimes that will, in fitting Watergate parlance, be a cancer on the presidency if she manages to win on November 8. 
. . . 
"Hillary and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, operated the Clinton Foundation. Ostensibly a charity, the foundation was a de facto fraud scheme to monetize Hillary’s power as secretary of state (among other aspects of the Clintons’ political influence). The scheme involved (a) the exchange of political favors, access, and influence for millions of dollars in donations; (b) the circumvention of campaign-finance laws that prohibit political donations by foreign sources; (c) a vehicle for Mrs. Clinton to shield her State Department e-mail communications from public and congressional scrutiny while she and her husband exploited the fundraising potential of her position; and (d) a means for Clinton insiders to receive private-sector compensation and explore lucrative employment opportunities while drawing taxpayer-funded government salaries." . . .

Also by Mr. McCarthy: James Comey’s Dereliction: Of course the Obama administration was not going to prosecute Hillary Clinton
" . . .defending Obama’s non-enforcement of immigration law, promoting the administration’s narrative that predatory banks (not lunatic government housing policies) caused the 2008 financial meltdown, sculpting indictments in conformance to Obama’s see-no-Islam conception of terrorism, etc. His is the most politicized Justice Department in American history." . . .

"This should be news to none of us. It certainly was not news to the FBI director. The president did not want Clinton indicted. The rest is just details."

 

"Andrew C. McCarthy III is a columnist for National Review. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. A Republican, he is most notable for leading the 1995 terrorism prosecution against Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and eleven others." . . .