Rand Paul: Hillary Clinton Should Face Charges, FBI Recommendation ‘Smells Funny’
Rand Paul is calling for Hillary Clinton to face prosecution for her handling of classified matters through a personal email server. He is circulating a petition, and has also penned an op-ed, centering on the idea that the FBI recommendation to bring no charges against the former Secretary of State sets up an America where a Clinton can be expected to be exempt from the law, while other Americans must face consequences for their actions.
In an op-ed for Cincinnati Saturday afternoon, Paul declared that most Americans consider the country a nation of laws, but that the FBI’s recommendation to bring no charges against Clinton will, if accepted, create “a nation of two sets of laws: one for the Clintons, and one for everyone else.”
Paul called the recommendation an outrage, saying that the FBI demonstrated over 100 incidents of Hillary Clinton endangering national security and violating procedures. Citing cases of individuals who lost their jobs or faced charges for violation of security protocols, from intentional leakage of information to, in one case, a mere using of a private email server, Rand Paul asserted that the presumptive Democratic nominee “would not even qualify for a security clearance if her name weren’t Clinton.”
In fact, Paul has been speaking out since FBI Director James Comey announced on Tuesday that he was recommending no charges. On social media, he brought up former President Bill Clinton’s meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch, appearing to hint at conspiracy.
This weekend, we learned former President Clinton met with the Obama Administration Attorney general – the FBI director’s boss – in private.
— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 5, 2016
Three days later the FBI director announces no charges are being brought against Hillary Clinton.
— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 5, 2016
The appearance is terrible. The decision is astounding. Ppl have gone to jail for less severe classified breaches and national security.
— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 5, 2016
He questioned the link between the meeting and the FBI recommendation.
“How did this all come about? Well, we don’t know for sure, but it sure smells funny.”
According to NPR, Comey stated that Clinton was “extremely careless” with email security during her time as Secretary of State, and that over one hundred emails on the server contained classified information that should have been marked as such, and not communicated via a system without security protocols.
Comey also indicated that it was possible that the email system had been hacked or accessed. However, he chose not to recommend charges, saying that the actions were careless, but not intentionally harmful
This, in fact, is one of the points of contention for Rand. He says that the law sets a standard of gross negligence, rather than intentional harm, and that to interpret it otherwise is to ignore both the letter of the law and established precedent.
Meanwhile, he circulated a petition, calling for Americans to join him in demanding charges.
“If you still believe that no American–even a Clinton–should be exempt from our justice system, sign the petition demanding that Hillary Clinton be held accountable for all her violations.”
The Kentucky Senator invoked “Hillary’s lies” and referred to “people like us,” indicating a view of the populace as divided not into Republican and Democrat, rich and poor, or public figure and regular guy, but Clinton, and everyone else.
“There should not be a different set of rules for Hillary and people like us.”
Meanwhile, CNN reports that the State Department has reopened the investigation, only days after the Justice Department declared it closed. Though this may appeal to those who agree with Senator Rand Paul, Hillary Clinton says she expects the investigation will “pay very close attention” to the findings that led the Justice Department to close its investigation.
[Photo by Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images]
