Sen. Paul: Hillary Clinton should not be above the rule of law

Courtesy The Lexington Herald-Leader.

By SEN. RAND PAUL
U.S. Senator, Kentucky

Friday, July 8, 2016 — It is said — and most of us have spent our lives believing — that we are a nation of laws.

SEN. RAND PAUL

If the FBI’s decision to not prosecute Hillary Clinton is accepted, we will have become a nation of two sets of laws: one for the Clintons, and one for everyone else.

On Tuesday, FBI Director James Comey held an astonishing press conference in which he delivered a scathing rundown on Clinton’s wrongdoings in handling classified information and national security during her tenure as Secretary of State.

The FBI showed clearly that Clinton violated classified procedures and carelessly, recklessly endangered national security—and did so repeatedly, over 100 times.

The FBI then announced she would face no charges. This is an outrage, and the rule of law has been shattered.

Any career civil servant or military offer who had been so “careless” with national security and classified information would have had his or her security clearance stripped at a minimum, possibly been fired, and certainly have been open to criminal charges.

In fact, when one ambassador chose to use his own email server to send his traffic, in violation of a multitude of laws and procedures, the State Department cited it as one of the main reasons for his ouster. The Secretary of State at that time? Hillary Clinton.

The Justice Department prosecuted NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake with charges that could have led to 35 years in prison.

General David Petraeus was charged and pled guilty to similar classified breaches; he faced two years probation and a $100,000 fine.

There are plainly written laws about this—Title 18 USC Sections 793 and 798, among others. The FBI director singlehandedly changed the meaning of the law Tuesday when he decided that if the intent to harm was not present, then there is no violation. That’s clearly wrong both by plain reading of the law and by practice of previous prosecutions. Gross negligence is the standard, not intentional harm. The top law enforcement officers in our country should know this.

But the rules and laws are apparently for the other people, not for Clinton. It’s disgusting, and it should preclude Clinton from ever holding high office again.

How can we trust someone to be Commandeer in Chief who would not even qualify for a security clearance if her name weren’t Clinton?

And how do we tell the people who have faced the consequences that though they received punishment, Hillary gets off with nothing?

We shouldn’t have to. The FBI should be better than this. The Justice Department should be better than this.

How did this all come about? Well, we don’t know for sure, but it sure smells funny.

This weekend, we learned former President Clinton met with Attorney General Loretta Lynch—and the FBI director’s boss—in private.

Three days later the FBI director announces no charges are being brought against Hillary Clinton.

The appearance is terrible. The decision is astounding. People have gone to jail for far less severe breaches of classified information and national security.

On Tuesday, Director Comey and the Obama Administration Department of Justice made it clear to the American people, and all those being unfairly prosecuted by the DOJ, that there is no accountability and no justice. Today, they made it clear that the Clintons are allowed to live by a different set of rules.

This is a loss for the rule of law and further degrades Americans’ faith in the justice system.

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