Exclusive: Myra Adams interviews Rep. Ron DeSantis about his grilling of AG Lynch
by Myra Adams
WND.com
Ron DeSantis is the United States representative for Florida’s 6th Congressional District, located in northeastern Florida.
Rep. DeSantis assumed office on Jan. 3, 2013. In May 2015, shortly after Florida Senator Marco Rubio announced his intention to seek the presidency and not run for re-election in 2016, DeSantis declared that he would run for Rubio’s open Senate seat.
Then, on June 22, 2016, in what played out as a national political drama, two days before Florida’s June 24 filing deadline, Rubio announced that he had changed his mind and was now seeking re-election. DeSantis then announced that he was withdrawing from the Senate race and running for re-election to his 6th district seat.
Weeks later, on July 7, DeSantis, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, garnered much favorable national media attention after his grilling of FBI Director James Comey over Comey’s decision not to recommend prosecution of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her email scandal. Then, on July 12, Attorney General Loretta Lynch appeared before the House Judiciary Committee to affirm Comey’s decision to close Clinton’s email case. Again DeSantis emerged as a star questioner, resulting in more national media appearances.
With his conservative track record and impressive biography as a Harvard Law School honors graduate, Iraq war veteran and Bronze Star winner currently serving as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, DeSantis is recognized as a Republican rising star with a bright future. WND is honored to have Congressman DeSantis participate in our VIP interview series.
Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla.
WND: Back in July when FBI Director Comey and Attorney General Lynch appeared before the House Judiciary Committee to justify their decision in the Clinton email scandal, did you consider their overall testimony to be a low point in modern American history?
Rep. DeSantis: Comey’s testimony was baffling – he laid out devastating factual findings regarding Hillary Clinton’s conduct and effectively convicted her for violating sections 793(f) (mishandling classified information through gross negligence) and 1924 (knowingly removing classified information from proper place of storage) of Title 18 of the U.S. Code. Yet, he surmised that no “reasonable prosecutor” would bring a prosecution on these facts because the “tradition” of the Department of Justice is to only prosecute classified information cases when the defendant intended to harm the U.S. This is not required by the relevant statutes and is not something the DOJ requires in other cases (for example, the Department routinely prosecutes environmental crimes using a basic negligence standard).
My guess is that the DOJ told Comey beforehand they wouldn’t bring the case unless Comey demonstrated that Hillary specifically intended classified information to be exposed, which effectively guaranteed that no case would go forward. Comey could reason that Clinton’s specific intent in setting up her rogue server was to insulate her communications and performance in office from public accountability; she was willing to risk top secret information being intercepted, but that was not the primary reason she set up the server.
Loretta Lynch’s dismal performance before Congress was an affront to the American people. She refused to answer any questions about the investigation or even the legal analysis used by the Justice Department in classified information cases. Her performance suggests that my guess regarding DOJ guidance to Comey is correct. The fix was in.
See DeSantis/Lynch exchange:
WND: Having written the book, “Dreams From Our Founding Fathers,” what do you think the Founders would have thought of Comey and Lynch’s performance?
DeSantis: The Founders would see Lynch’s performance as the predictable outgrowth of a Department of Justice that has been corrupted under the Obama administration. I think they’d be surprised that Obama was re-elected given how politicized the DOJ became under Eric Holder. They depended on the voters to be a bulwark against corruption in government.
WND: From May 6, 2015, until June 22, 2016, you waged a campaign to win the Republican Senate nomination in a crowded primary field with four other candidates. What did you learn from that experience? Is your third congressional race going to be tougher now that your constituents know you had your eye on higher office?
DeSantis: Florida is a big state and requires raising a lot of money in order to communicate to voters your background, record and plans for the future. In a presidential year, the Senate race was not a front burner race given all that was going on politically on the national level. Earned media is difficult to come by in Florida because we have so many different media markets, and campaign news almost never gets carried statewide. It’s a tough state to campaign in. Of course, I knew this going in, but actually going around the state really brings it home.
I think my congressional campaign is strong. I’ve been fortunate to have a broad base of support and have a number of constituents who urged me to run for the Senate who are glad that I’m still in the fight.
WND: The Club For Growth, a prominent fiscally conservative political action group that actively funds candidates, endorsed your Senate bid and was your largest donor. Now they have endorsed your re-election to Congress (and Sen. Rubio’s re-election too.) Keeping in mind that big money in politics is such a major concern for voters, does the Club for Growth expect anything from you in return?
DeSantis: The Club for Growth doesn’t donate directly to candidates; the group is a conduit that channels donations made by individual donors to candidates endorsed by the Club. An endorsement signals to donors that a candidate is worthy of support, but each donor makes their own decision about whether to support a particular candidate.
I typically seek support from individuals and/or groups that support limited government principles, but I don’t view such support as obligating me to do anything other than stay true to my principles. I’m proud to have a track record of consistent support for fiscal conservatism and constitutional government.
WND: As you are well aware, Florida is a must-win state for Donald Trump. On May 4, while still a Senate candidate you said, “If we want to defeat Hillary Clinton and have a chance to change the trajectory of our country, we need to unite behind the Republican ticket this November.” With party unity in mind, do you plan on inviting Trump to campaign with you in your congressional district?
DeSantis: He’s in my district today (Aug. 3) and I’m sure will be making frequent trips to Florida. He needs to win Florida to get to 270 in the Electoral College.
WND: Congressman DeSantis, on behalf of WND, thank you for participating in our “VIP Q&A” series.
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http://www.wnd.com/2016/08/the-fix-was-in-on-hillary-email-scandal/#bi4E8T37QV8qkU6C.99