Replies to post #253909 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[StephanieVanbryce]

The Outrageously False Charges of Perjury Against Hillary Clinton

John Dean
19 Aug 2016



Endless efforts by congressional Republicans to foil or foul up Hillary Clinton’s run for the presidency have hit a new low. The members of Congress involved cannot be sued for defamation, since they are protected by the “Speech and Debate Clause” of the Constitution, but the fact that they are not merely smearing the former secretary of state but are trying to send her to jail on phony charges of perjury and lying to Congress is beyond the pale of dirty politics. It is an abuse of power and their effort to criminalize politics could one-day blowback on them and result in their going to jail on bogus charges. They are employing a tactic that could undermine democracy, so it is appropriate to get the facts out.

Unfortunately, to explain these seamy tactics takes a bit more space than the normal column, but the facts need to be placed on the record. Without understanding the underlying testimony involved it is not possible to appreciate the falsity and absurdity of the charges against Mrs. Clinton. It is easy to call someone a liar or a perjurer. Not so easy to unpack the charges. A smear like this—and Hillary has had a career of them—takes space to address and debunk, which is why it probably has not been done. I really undertook this drill for myself because I wanted to see what was going on. I believe Hillary Clinton is far too savvy and smart to lie to Congress. And as the following information shows, I am correct and she has not done so.

That two of the most powerful committee chairs in the House of Representatives have trumped up these bogus charges is stunning to me. This is not the way mature democracies like ours are supposed to operate. These men—along with their staff and the Republican leadership that are part of this ploy—are blatantly abusing congressional powers. The out-front leaders of this squalid action are Bob Goodlatte, chair of the Committee on the Judiciary and Jason Chaffetz, chair of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. They claim that Secretary Clinton lied during her lengthy testimony before the House Select Committee on Benghazi on October 22, 2015. The purported basis of their claim is the statement on July 5 and testimony on July 7, 2016, by FBI Director James Comey regarding the FBI investigation of Secretary Clinton’s use of a private email system during her tenure in office. After congressional Republicans failed to criminalize her use of a private email system, they now want her charged with perjury or a criminally false statement.

On July 11, 2016, Goodlatte and Chaffetz referred [ https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Criminal-Referral-Letter-7-11-201614.pdf ] the matter to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia for criminal prosecution. When this produced only a form letter response [ https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2016-08-02-Kadzik-DOJ-to-JEC-Goodlatte-Phillips-USAO-Criminal-Referral-Letter-re-7-11.pdf ] from the Department of Justice, and no real headlines, they had their staff plow through the record of Secretary Clinton’s marathon all day and into the night testimony on October 22, 2015, and they sent a revised letter on August 15, 2016, [ https://oversight.house.gov/release/chaffetz-goodlatte-outline-case-perjury-clinton/ ] outlining their perjury case in four areas where Secretary Clinton’s sworn testimony is “at odds with the FBI’s findings” as reported by Director Comey, namely:

(1) Whether she sent or received emails that were marked classified at the time; (2) whether her attorneys reviewed each of the emails on her personal email system; (3) whether there was one, or more servers that stored work-related emails during her time as Secretary of State; and (4) whether she provided all her work-related emails to the Department of State.

Goodlatte and Chaffetz proceed to lay out what they paint as conflicts between Secretary Clinton’s testimony and that of Director Comey, suggesting that Mrs. Clinton violated two criminal statutes:18 U.S.C. § 1621, [ http://law.justia.com/codes/us/2014/title-18/part-i/chapter-79/sec.-1621/ ] the general perjury statute, and § 1001, [ http://law.justia.com/codes/us/2014/title-18/part-i/chapter-47/sec.-1001/ ] the provisions covering false statements. Before looking at Secretary Clinton’s testimony, and that of Director Comey which Republicans claim puts the lie to Mrs. Clinton, a brief review of these statutes (in a nutshell without citations) may be helpful.

MUCH MORE F6
https://verdict.justia.com/2016/08/19/outrageously-false-charges-perjury-hillary-clinton


also in Newsweek[ http://www.newsweek.com/squalid-case-against-hillary-and-her-emails-492017 ] and I saw it one other place this morning and now can't remember where .. sheeesh! Anyway, THEY are the CROOKS, he lays it out! .. THEY will be the ones who get hurt, IF not them 'other' republicans . . .HILLARY? NO! .. Because she didn't do anything wrong ... ;) Yes, I know you know that . .. ;) sorry I just got too tired to carry on . .