Case Reopened!

FBI Director James Comey has reopened the Clinton email case less than 2 weeks before the election.  This is a stunning turn of events.  Despite overwhelming evidence that offered a clear path to indictment, Comey had closed the case while saying no prosecutor would take the case.  Much grief was heaped upon him for that, rightly so.  The question thus becomes, why revisit what has been a disaster for him?

First, it may be that the purported evidence found on the laptop shared by Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner had something that could not be overlooked and will eventually be made public.  There might be something that, if it were to come out after the election and also revealed that the FBI knew about it before the election, there would be hell to pay.  By reopening the case before the election, Comey protects what is left of the FBI's reputation.

 

Second, Weiner is making a deal.  Disgraced, political career ruined, and his marriage over, Weiner has no reason to protect Huma, Hillary, or the Democratic Party.  He knows all the skeletons and, rat that he is, he gathered evidence to give himself leverage.  He may have provided it to the FBI - which is currently investigating him - to get a better deal.  Sure, he will be hated and a pariah but he already is.

 

Third, Comey thought that his press conference and his testimony to Congress would be enough to torpedo Hillary's campaign, thus providing sufficient punishment for the transgressions he outlined while dodging direct responsibility.  With the polls showing her still leading, he decided he needed to 'remind' the electorate.  That the FBI is investigating Hillary's top aide's husband just made that reminder possible.

 

Fourth, WikiLeaks is getting the emails from furious FBI agents, not Russian hackers.  Comey wants to cut the rationale for the release by reopening the case.  This may take the focus off the continued Wiki Dumps until the election.  As such, this might be a tourniquet to stop the bleeding but perhaps saving the campaign.  That sounds rather unlikely but it was suggested.

Comey has mishandled this about as badly as it could be mishandled.  Should Hillary lose, he will go down in history along with the Daisy add, Willy Horton, and the Swiftboaters.  He has carved out a terrible legacy.  Even if Hillary is convicted of multiple felonies (highly unlikely), he will be viewed as incompetent for having closed the case in the first place.  If she wins, he's fired.  Either way, he has infuriated both the Democrats and the Republicans and will get no succor from either.  There is no good result for James Comey.  He abandoned the rule of law in July and he cannot recover.