by Joseph Jankowski
PlanetFreeWill.com
In his testimony before the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee on Thursday, FBI Director James Comey explained that if a member of the FBI had handled classified information in the manner Hillary Clinton had on her private email servers, there would be a number of consequences.
“Do you really believe there should be no consequence for Hillary Clinton and how she dealt with this,” Chairman of the Oversight Committee Jason Chaffetz asked the FBI Director.
Comey responded, “I hope folks remember what I said on Tuesday, I didn’t say there’s no consequence for someone who violates the rules regarding the handling of classified information.”
“There are often very severe consequences in the FBI involving their employment, their pay, their clearances,” said Comey, who was responsible for recommending that no charges be placed against Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton for her mishandling of classified information. “I Hope folks walk away understanding that just because someone’s not prosecuted for mishandling classified information, that doesn’t mean if you work in the FBI there aren’t consequences.”
Chairman Chaffetz then went on to ask the FBI director what the consequences would be for Clinton if she had been in the FBI and carelessly handled classified information as she did as Secretary of State.
“There would be a security review and an adjudication of their suitability and a range of discipline could be imposed from termination to reprimand, and in between suspension, loss of clearance,” Said Comey. “So you could be walked out or, depending on the nature of the facts, you could be reprimanded but there is a robust process to handle that.”
“We’re mystified,” Chaffetz insisted during the hearing. “It seems that there are two standards, and there’s no consequence for these types of activities and dealing in a careless way with classified information.”
According to FBI Director Comey, there was not enough clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch accepted Comey’s recommendation late yesterday and the case against Clinton has closed.
In the past, there has been numerous cases of government officials, contractors, and military personnel receiving punishment for the same treatment of classified information that Hillary Clinton engaged in during her time as Secretary of State.
The decision to not punish Clinton has left many Americans wondering what type of precedent this sets for the future of the handling of classified information and also why Hillary Clinton is above the law.