President Trump Brings Back Hillary Clinton’s Past
President Donald Trump’s best tool for sharing his opinions is his Twitter handle @realDonaldTrump. He uses his Twitter account on a daily basis, and recently he tweeted something that brings up a valid point:
So General Flynn lies to the FBI and his life is destroyed, while Crooked Hillary Clinton, on that now famous FBI holiday “interrogation” with no swearing in and no recording, lies many times…and nothing happens to her? Rigged system, or just a double standard?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2017
Whether you agree or disagree with the president, the point he is making now is a solid one. If Hillary Clinton lied to the FBI, why is she not seeing any punishment? Is she exempt from legal consequences because she was almost the president of the United States? Or is it due to the fact that her husband is a former president of the United States?
Hillary Clinton’s Background Story
During the past couple of years, Hillary Clinton has been on the front page of almost every major media outlet because of her run for the presidency of the United States. That 2016 election resulted in her defeat by Donald Trump.
However, this was not the first run that Clinton made for the role of president of the United States; in 2008, she lost to Barack Obama in the primary race to represent the Democratic Party in the general election. Obama went on to win the race for the White House and offered Hillary Clinton the role of Secretary of State, which she accepted.
Clinton served in this position from 2009 to 2013. This is where the controversy begins; as secretary of state, Clinton decided to set up her own e-mail servers at her home in New York City. This resulted in all of Clinton’s personal and work e-mails going through her servers.
There was no wrongdoing in regards to the personal e-mails going through personal servers. However, the work e-mails are a different issue because e-mails—many of which could include classified information—are supposed to go through servers managed by the U.S. government.
At first, Clinton did not disclose that she used the servers, but they came into the spotlight when there was a hearing about events in Benghazi. (Source: “Using Private Email, Hillary Clinton Thwarted Record Requests,” The New York Times, March 3, 2015.)
During the 2016 presidential campaign, the e-mail issue was used by Clinton’s opponents to attack her. Throughout everything, Clinton maintained her innocence, saying that no classified information went through her private servers.
This resulted in an investigation by the FBI. They found three e-mails that were marked classified (out of 30,000). The conclusion in the case was that Hillary did use her personal e-mail servers for classified information, but no charges were laid. (Source: “Revisiting Clinton and Classified Information,” FactCheck.org, July 7, 2016.)
Director James Comey testifies before House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on July 7, 2016 and recommends not to prosecute Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (Credits: Alex Wong/Staff/Getty Images)
Despite no charges, this resulted in Clinton being a considered a liar by much of the American public, whose vote she was trying to gain. In addition, she lied to the FBI by not disclosing her work-related information.
Are Personal E-mail Servers Breaking the Law?
Technically, Clinton did not break the law by using a private e-mail server, because the role of private e-mail servers in government is in a gray area of the law. Since Clinton has left her role as secretary of state, however, the rules have been changed many times regarding personal e-mail servers.
Is Lying to the FBI a Crime?
Lying to the FBI is a crime under the United States code; it’s a serious issue that could result in a fine and jail time.
Clinton did lie to the FBI, in regards to her personal e-mail servers holding classified information. She seems to have been given a free pass regarding her actions, however This may be due to the fact that her husband is a former president of the United States. Or there is a possibility that Clinton has not been punished because she has a long history of serving the country in politics.
Does the FBI Have a Double Standard?
Now, let’s take a look at Trump’s comments above, alleging that there is a double standard at the FBI.
Michael Flynn is the former National Security Adviser to President Trump. The reason why Flynn was being investigated by the FBI is that there was speculation that the Trump election campaign received cash from foreign governments. The problem is that Flynn did not go through the regulatory process to report the earnings; he simply hid the payments. Another concern was that Flynn was advising foreign governments while he was part of Trump’s team, which created a conflict of interest.
Flynn resigned from his position as National Security Adviser and, at the same time, there was speculation that he had communications with the Russian ambassador. Then, a couple months later, the media was reporting that Robert Mueller and his special investigation team had information relating to Flynn and his actions related to foreign governments. (Source: “Mueller Has Enough Evidence to Bring Charges in Flynn Investigation,” NBC News, November 5, 2017.)
Then, on December 1, Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI, although he hasn’t faced any punishment yet.
Conclusion: Hillary Clinton vs. Michael Flynn
Both Clinton and Flynn lied to the FBI and both saw different results. President Trump may be right in saying that there is a double standard in how the rules are being enforced by the FBI.
Even though Clinton is currently free of any charges, the future could be different because more information could be uncovered by the FBI or another investigation team. This then could result in charges and maybe even prison time.