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    Senior Member lorrie's Avatar
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    Judiciary, Oversight chairmen demand Clinton perjury investigation

    Judiciary, Oversight chairmen demand Clinton perjury investigation



    By Katie Bo Williams - 07/11/16 05:41 PM EDT

    The chairmen of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees on Monday formally requested that the Department of Justice open a criminal investigation into whether Hillary Clinton lied to Congress.

    “The evidence collected by the FBI during its investigation of Secretary Clinton’s use of a personal email system appears to directly contradict several aspects of her sworn testimony," GOP leaders on the panels wrote. "In light of those contradictions, the Department should investigate and determine whether to prosecute Secretary Clinton for violating statutes that prohibit perjury and false statements to Congress, or any other relevant statutes.”

    The letter was signed by Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (Utah) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (Va.) in a letter to the Washington, D.C. U.S. Attorney.

    The move comes on the heels of the Justice Department’s decision not to press charges against Clinton for her use of a private email server while she was secretary of State. Republicans, outraged that Clinton appears to be getting off scot-free despite mishandling classified information, have quickly pivoted to accusing her of perjury.

    At issue is Clinton’s marathon 11-hour testimony before the House Benghazi panel last year, during which she insisted under oath that “there was nothing marked classified on my emails, either sent or received.”

    FBI Director James Comey revealed on Thursday that Clinton did, in fact, exchange emails through her private server that included information marked classified.

    Asked during the course of a House Oversight hearing if the FBI had investigated “her statements under oath on this topic,” Comey said no, noting that he would need a referral from Congress to conduct such an investigation.

    “You’ll have one,” Chaffetz vowed.

    The FBI is not obligated to open an investigation based on a referral from Congress, several former Justice Department prosecutors told The Hill.

    While there may be some cases when a referral requires a response, that’s “the exception and not the rule,” one former official said.

    Oversight Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) has already fired back on the referral, accusing Republicans of "sending a so-called 'criminal referral' devoid of any actual facts."

    "Republicans are so frustrated with the FBI's unanimous decision that they are now completely unloading on Secretary Clinton with everything they've got-right before the presidential conventions," Cummings said in a statement.

    The GOP, he continued, is "now squandering even more taxpayer dollars in a desperate attempt to keep this issue alive and bring down Secretary Clinton's poll numbers ahead of the election."

    Cummings argued that the three emails marked as classified were mislabeled through "human error" and cited the FBI director's assessment that it was "reasonable" that Clinton would not have immediately assumed they were restricted information.

    Comey himself provided some cover for the Democratic frontrunner in his Thursday testimony.

    “I think it’s possible — possible — that she didn’t understand what a C meant when she saw it in the body of an email like that,” Comey said, referring to the official system of marking certain paragraphs as “confidential,” the lowest level of classification.

    Standard government practice is to mark emails containing sensitive information at the top of the message or in the subject line.

    And in order to commit perjury — which is a felony — a person must be proven to have lied willfully.

    Chaffetz also sent a letter to Comey directly on Monday, demanding the FBI’s file on the Clinton investigation — including interview transcripts, documents collected, and any other analysis conducted in the court of the probe.

    --This post was updated at 7:12 p.m.

    http://thehill.com/policy/national-s...-investigation

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    Senior Member lorrie's Avatar
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    House GOP raises pressure on FBI over Clinton

    House GOP raises pressure on FBI over Clinton


    By Julian Hattem - 07/11/16 05:22 PM EDT

    More than 200 House Republicans on Monday demanded that FBI Director James Comey answer a slew of questions about his decision not to recommend federal charges against Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server while secretary of State.

    The lawmakers accused Comey of creating “a cloud over our nation’s justice system” and implored him to divulge additional details about his decision, even after a nearly five-hour hearing last week.

    “No one is above the law and the American people deserve a more robust explanation for your decision to not recommend criminal charges against the former secretary,” the 204 GOP lawmakers told Comey.

    The Republicans’ Monday letter is an intensification of their concerted scrutiny of the FBI’s decision, which removed a potential legal deathblow from striking Clinton’s presidential campaign.

    At least five congressional committees have undertaken efforts to ask the FBI or Justice Department about the decision not to pursue charges against Clinton. Monday’s letter, signed by an overwhelming number of House Republicans, shows that GOP lawmakers will continue to seize on the issue up to and likely through the party nominating conventions that begin next week.

    The letter was spearheaded by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), who previously squared off against Clinton as head of the House Select Committee on Benghazi.

    In their letter, the lawmakers disputed the FBI chief’s claim that it would be practically unprecedented to charge Clinton with mishandling classified information, since he said investigators discovered no evidence that she did so intentionally.

    A 99-year-old law allows for charges to be filed for “gross negligence,” but it has only been used once. “No reasonable prosecutor” would be willing to make the case against Clinton the second ever instance, Comey said last week.

    “The Espionage Act was passed by Congress with the understanding that various standards of culpability can be attributed to one who has failed to protect national security secrets,” lawmakers told Comey. “We do not understand the need to have cited any lack of intent on the part of Secretary Clinton when the law sets forth a felony violation for something less than intentional conduct – ‘gross negligence.’”

    “We have multiple former prosecutors in Congress, and it is not far-fetched for many of us to envision a successful prosecution of someone for doing far less than that which was committed by Secretary Clinton.”

    While declining to recommend charges against Clinton, Comey did offer harsh criticism of Clinton and her top aides, claiming they were “extremely careless” and could be subject to administrative penalties. Clinton has disputed the charge.

    To Republicans, however, Comey's description reeked of a double standard. Critics accused the FBI of taking pains to avoid recommending charges against Clinton.

    Comey “picked a new standard out of thin air — ‘extreme carelessness’ — to describe the actions of Secretary Clinton and her staff,” GOP lawmakers wrote in their letter.

    The FBI head will appear in the House Homeland Security Committee on Thursday, in a hearing billed as addressing global security issues but which will likely include several questions about the decision regarding Clinton.

    Attorney General Loretta Lynch is scheduled to appear in the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

    In addition, the heads of the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees have filed their own letters with the FBI to inquire about its decision.
    The effort appears designed to jump on the controversy that had dogged Clinton for more than a year, since her use of a “homebrew” email system was first revealed. A poll released on Monday found that a majority of the country disagreed with the Justice Department’s decision not to press charges.

    However, the strategy could also backfire, if Republicans are seen as trying to bully Comey, a well-respected lawman and Republican in his own right. GOP lawmakers were heaping praise on the FBI director in the days before his announcement last week, and defenders of Clinton were quick to accuse them of hypocrisy for questioning his decision.

    http://thehill.com/policy/national-s...ion-in-clinton

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