back to article FBI's Clinton email comedown confirms it could have killed the story in a canter

On Sunday night, after a week of sending US elections spinning and Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton tumbling in polls, FBI director Michael Comey backed off and wrote to Congressional committee chairs that after "working round the clock to process a large volume of emails" found on a laptop seized a month ago from accused …

  1. Winkypop Silver badge
    Meh

    Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

    Just another calculated stunt.

    Damage done though.

    1. Ian Michael Gumby
      Boffin

      Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

      No, not a calculated stunt.

      Comey got the message from Obama... the fix was in... don't rock the boat.

      In other words unless that had something so damning... they wouldn't try to indict her, which btw isn't Comey's job. He's just there to collect the evidence. Lynch would have to indict and since there was no GJ, the whole investigation was a farce.

      If Clinton wins... she'll face the same fate as Nixon.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

        Comey would only continue in his job if Trump won.

        This climbdown is too little too late. He still gets the chop.

        1. The Man Who Fell To Earth Silver badge
          FAIL

          Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

          "Comey would only continue in his job if Trump won. This climbdown is too little too late. He still gets the chop."

          Wrong. The FBI Director's term is 10 years, specifically to make sure he can't be given the boot on a whim. The longest a US President can serve is 8 years (if elected twice). Comey's term does not end until 2023.

          "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

          1. John Sanders
            Holmes

            Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

            Trump will fire him.

            1. The Man Who Fell To Earth Silver badge
              FAIL

              Re John Sanders

              The President does not have the authority to fire the Director of the FBI. That's by design.

              1. Ian Michael Gumby
                Boffin

                @The man who fell... Re: Re John Sanders

                Sorry but not entirely true.

                The President can fire Comey if they can show cause... Note this is technically true, however very difficult.

                Comey's actions do not justify termination unless there's an investigation where he intentionally tanked the investigation under order from Obama and/or Lynch. Note that if he asked for a GJ and Lynch denied it... its not on Comey but potentially on Lynch. Lynch on the other hand and the DoJ can be terminated at any time.

          2. Steven Jones

            Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

            Technically a US president can serve almost 10 years if, as VP, they "inherit" the presidency with less than two years to go, as they can be elected in their own right twice. (If they inherited the presidency with more than two years to go, they could only then be elected to the presidency once).

            1. The Man Who Fell To Earth Silver badge
              Alert

              Re Steven Jones

              You are correct. I forgot about possible extra year or two if the person was a VP who "inherited" the post. (22 Amendment to the US Constitution.)

          3. td97402

            Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

            Actually, the president can fire the Director of the FBI. Bill Clinton fired then Director William Sessions. Something about ethics violations :)

          4. Mikel

            Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

            Use of the office to meddle in the election is just cause for termination.

            But everybody knows the FBI is Republican and the CIA is Democrat. The NSA won't say who they're rooting for.

        2. Ian Michael Gumby

          Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

          Sorry AC, you would have to show cause in order to fire Comey. That's going to be very difficult so he's in his job for the next several years regardless of who's the President.

          Lynch and others on the other hand... are fair game.

          When Trump gets the nod... and surprisingly he will... things will get very interesting and still some things will stay the same.

          The reason you see Trump winning is that there is a large percentage of people willing to vote for Trump that won't openly talk about it. Don't believe me? Then ask yourself why Obama and Clinton are running scared in Michigan? NH? and other states that they thought they had a lock on...

          The issue is that people are sick and tired of the corruption that exists in Washington. In terms of IT, how Obama has changed the way things are done in the Library of Congress and have set up copyright law changes in the favor of Google.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            @Ian Michael Gumby - 'shy voter' theory

            Well we'll find out if that's right in 36 hours or so, but the reason Clinton started campaigning again in Michigan and NH is because Comey's bombshell cut into her lead, and Trump's only path to getting 270 electoral votes involves winning Michigan - along with ALL tossup states. It doesn't look good for Trump at all based on early voting results in Nevada and several other states, so even if he wins Michigan (which he well might, there are a lot of angry blue collar voters there) it would take a tidal wave of shy voters to push him over the top in all tossup states.

            I have never bought into this theory. I could see maybe Trump voters choosing not to tell their friends/family about it if they are mostly against him. But why lie to pollsters? That makes little sense, but it is really all Trump has to hang his hat on this point - and if he loses, he'll claim it was "rigged", because his daddy issues mean he thinks the worst thing in the world is to be a "loser", so of course when he loses it wasn't him it will be someone else's fault.

            Anyway, why should the 'shy voter' theory be limited to Trump voters? Hillary Clinton is every bit as nationally unpopular, and hated at least as intensely by those voting against her, so to the extent any shy voters exist, I see no reason to assume that they wouldn't pretty much cancel each other out.

            1. Ian Michael Gumby

              @Doug S Re: @Ian Michael Gumby - 'shy voter' theory

              There are two things... 1) Shy voters.. 2) People who didn't vote or register to vote or don't get calls from pollsters.

              Shy voters exist. Meaning that they aren't putting up Trump signs in their yards, or are registered republicans or democrats who are planning on voting for Trump. (Or anyone but Clinton [ABC vote])

              Its already proven that the number of registered Republicans did jump up. So Trump brought more people in to the fold. However there's also a group of Republicans who won't vote for Trump.

              As to Hillary, everyone claims to be voting for her. Why? Because "its her time", or she's making history, and all of the scandals are a republican conspiracy and she's an innocent sweet grandma...

              (ick sarcasm)

              The truth is that the polls have tightened in many 'blue states' to the point where Clinton and company are panicked.

              The latest Wiki-leaks have damaged her greatly and have provided fodder / chum for the Republicans to spend the next 2 years investigating her. Of course if the rumors are true, if you hit her with a strobe light and primary color flashes... she'll stroke out. (Or have an epileptic episode.) Not that I'm recommending anyone try it.

              The more interesting thing ... if Trump resigns ... we have Pence. Seems smart and stable enough. If CLinton goes down... you're left with Tim Kaine which some say would be a lap dog for Obama to control.

              1. h4rm0ny

                Re: @Doug S @Ian Michael Gumby - 'shy voter' theory

                Pence is a born again evangelist Christian (i.e. not the nice affable kindly type, but the righteous and judgemental type who is a devout supporter of Israel on anything they wish) who has left little doubt that he wants to confront Russia in the Middle East ("hello WWIII"). Hilary is no better. At this point, there are no good options

          2. veti Silver badge

            Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

            If people planning to vote for Trump in NH and MI aren't willing to admit it, then why are the polls so close in those states?

            And shall we talk about the people, women especially, in Wyoming and Kansas who aren't willing to admit they're voting for Clinton?

            For the sake of your country, and mine too - please get over it. The system is the system. If you want to change it, go into politics and fucking learn how it works. Right now, Trump's voters - all of them, as far as I can tell - are at the level of the guy calling tech support because "my internet is broken", just because they can't be bothered to take the time to figure out how it's supposed to work.

          3. td97402

            Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

            "Sorry AC, you would have to show cause in order to fire Comey."

            Umm, no, there is no statutory limit on the President's authority to fire the Director of the FBI. Political backlash is another thing.

          4. Someone Else Silver badge

            @ Ian Michael Gumby -- Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

            The reason you see Trump winning is that there is a large percentage of people willing to vote for Trump that won't openly talk about it. Don't believe me?

            No, I don't. Not any more than I believe your personal savior, Herr Orangeführer Drumpf

          5. Pat Harkin

            Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

            "Sorry AC, you would have to show cause in order to fire Comey."!

            True - but at that level no one ever actually gets fired. They move on, they choose to step down, they take early retirement to spend more time with their family or for health reasons, they "Move to the private sector".

            But they never get fired. Heavens, no. That would be an inappropriate use of power by the government and we all know that couldn't happen.

            1. You aint sin me, roit

              Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

              Apparently, director of the FBI " serves at the pleasure of the President".

              Given that Comey broke protocol to announce an investigation with a week to go before the election, I expect he might not be so pleasing to a President Clinton... though clearly a favourite of a President Trump!

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

                He might not be pleasing to Clinton, but the appearances of firing him wouldn't look very good if she takes office with such a divided country. Better to leave him in place. Republicans in congress will make sure that she's investigated constantly during her entire term regardless, and probably stage an impeachment vote in the House like they did with her husband.

                If the FBI Director is hated equally by both sides, he's probably doing enough things right he should be kept...

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

        Yeah. And if Trump wins, and not every immigrant has been removed from the US, the wall has not been built, and Hillary is not in jail by the next congressional elections people will vote the democrats in the driving seat out of spite, and the democrats will block every last republican proposition until the end of his term. That is assuming the republicans don't start sabotaging their own president from day one.

        Or not. Please put on another record, Gumby. This one is broken.

  2. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

    The strangest thing about the whole story

    By far the most damage was done by democrat supporters getting their facts wrong.

    1. sabroni Silver badge

      Re: By far the most damage was done by democrat supporters

      No, more damage was done by the FBI guy's letter, giving Trump an excuse to claim that Clinton was back under investigation after early voting had started. Must be some of that election rigging that Trump keeps going on about....

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: By far the most damage was done by democrat supporters

        "giving Trump an excuse to claim that Clinton was back under investigation after early voting had started"

        That's weird. Voting has started but campaigning is still going on? How is that right?

        1. Rich 11

          Re: By far the most damage was done by democrat supporters

          How is that right?

          In the same way that submitting a postal vote in the UK is right.

          1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

            Re: By far the most damage was done by democrat supporters

            No it is not the same.

            In many states you can change your vote and some more than once if you voted early.

            If you have a postal vote you can only vote once and that is it.

            You have to apply for a postal vote. In the USA if your state has early voting you can vote at any time from when they start until the polls close on election day (apart from when they are closed eg at night). No special application needed.

            Also in the US you have to register with a party in order to vote. IMHO that is a flawed thing because naturally you will register with the party you affiliate to instead of here where your registration to vote is nothing to do with a party. If you don't vote but are registered in the US you get bombarded with phone calls day in, day out urging you to vote for the party your registerd with.

            1. midcapwarrior

              Re: By far the most damage was done by democrat supporters

              "In many states you can change your vote and some more than once if you voted early"

              Provide a reference other than breithbart, drudge, or some internet meme.

              Otherwise I'm calling that BS.

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: By far the most damage was done by democrat supporters

                There was an article on the BBC web site I read a few days ago which details some states which allow early voters to change their vote. Can't find it again at the moment though. All I found after a 5 second search is this page:

                http://www.businessinsider.com.au/how-can-you-change-your-vote-trump-clinton-early-voting-2016-11

                In a Trump speech last week he was asking early voters to go change their votes.

            2. midcapwarrior

              Re: By far the most damage was done by democrat supporters

              "Also in the US you have to register with a party in order to vote. IMHO that is a flawed thing because naturally you will register with the party you affiliate to instead of here where your registration to vote is nothing to do with a party."

              You have to register to vote in a primary in most states.

              No requirement in the general election.

              1. Kurt Meyer

                Re: By far the most damage was done by democrat supporters

                @ midcapwarrior

                "You have to register to vote in a primary in most states.

                No requirement in the general election."

                A voter must register in their current voting district in order to vote in any election, but having done so, they are automatically registered in the same voting district for any and all subsequent elections.

                If the voter relocates to a different voting district, they must register in their new district before they're allowed to vote.

                I registered in my present district seven years ago, and have been voting here ever since then.

                1. midcapwarrior

                  Re: By far the most damage was done by democrat supporters

                  Kurt Meyer

                  You missed the point.

                  You don't have to register by party to vote in the general election.

                  Of course you have to register to vote, although many states you can register at the voting site, assuming it's your voting jurisdiction.

            3. Kurt Meyer

              Re: By far the most damage was done by democrat supporters

              @ Steve Davies 3

              "In many states you can change your vote and some more than once if you voted early."

              No you can not change your vote, whether you vote early or vote on election day.

              "Also in the US you have to register with a party in order to vote."

              I have been voting in the US for more than forty years, and I have never registered with any political party.

              TL:DR - You don't know what the fuck you're talking about.

            4. This post has been deleted by its author

            5. Mark 85

              @Steve Davies 3 -- Re: By far the most damage was done by democrat supporters

              You have to apply for a postal vote. Bull.... in Oregon it's the way we vote. You register and the ballot comes in the mail. No special request needed.

              Also in the US you have to register with a party in order to vote. Again... BS I'm registered as "non-affiliated". All that means is that I can't vote for Presidential candidates in the primaries. Everything else on the ballot, I can vote for.

              I get calls from pollsters and the candidate "office" every day.. I just hang up on them. Yeah.. I'm an ass but who I will for vote for is for me to know and NOT them.. secret ballot and all that.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: By far the most damage was done by democrat supporters

          That's weird. Voting has started but campaigning is still going on? How is that right?

          It's called Early Voting. For a period of time before election day (depending on the state), voters are allowed to go and vote. The idea is to encourage turnout from people who might otherwise not vote (seeing long lines on election day, etc).

          Early voting is also a huge target for Republicans. Please note how they're trying to reduce or eliminate Early Voting [e.g. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article96179857.html]. The sole reason for trying to restrict early voting is to discourage Democrat turnout.

          This is partially because Election Day is on a Tuesday, when most working people have to work. Retirees, for example, [Republicans] can afford to wait in line on election day. Hourly employees are often not granted the luxury of taking time off to vote.

          1. graeme leggett Silver badge

            Re: By far the most damage was done by democrat supporters

            Also it seems that the polls are open for relatively short period compared to the UK.

            In most states the polls open around between 6 and 7 and will be closed by 8 (local time).

            http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/us-presidential-election-what-time-do-polls-open-close-each-state-1584754

            Seems some states require employers to let staff take time to go and vote but with restrictions (employers choice of hours, need to request time off...)

            http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/taking-time-off-voting-jury-29708.html

    2. Stevie

      Re: The strangest thing about the whole story

      Thanks for the link.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The strangest thing about the whole story

      Of course, the fact that the story you link to was written by a known Clinton operative...

    4. Ian Michael Gumby

      @Flocke Kroes Re: The strangest thing about the whole story

      You mean like the author?

      Note: 110 emails were classified by different agencies at the time they were sent. Each one carries a 10 year prison sentence. That doesn't include the 2000+ emails that were later classified

      The truth. She violated the espionage act and people died because of her and her incompetence.

      She's also still on the hook for the corruption and pay to play issue. That's a much more clear cut case... the numbers don't lie...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: @Flocke Kroes The strangest thing about the whole story - calm down dear

        So should those sentences run concurrently or consecutively? 10 years or 1100 years? And will Trump's multiple 20 year sentences for statutory rape be served in the same jail?

        And as for corruption - absolutely, lock up anyone who has donated to that crooked foundation... oh dear that's Donald too, still at least the money wasn't used to buy self portraits....

        As to pay to play, we can all agree that what happens in Florida stays in Florida....

        At least with Hilary the person you vote for is who you get - a Washington insider professional politician. With Trump you have a Daddy's little rich boy, who pretends to be ' a man of the people' while he flies in his crystal encrusted helicopter to his gold plated kazi.

        1. Ian Michael Gumby
          Boffin

          @AC ... Re: @Flocke Kroes The strangest thing about the whole story - calm down dear

          Unlike Julian Assange,

          No woman has ever come forward to actually press charges against Trump for rape. Just some questionable and disproven accusations of sexual assault.

          But speaking of rape... google Juanita Broderick who was raped and assaulted by Bill Clinton, only to have Hillary intimidate her in to silence. And then there were other women who did get paid out. And Monica Lewinsky, the times on the Lolita express without his SS detail... oh and the latest... the Energizer Bunny in NY. (His neighbor down the street).

          Then there's the secret pad atop the Clinton Library. (I know people who won't let their daughters volunteer to be a page at the library...

          So do you really want to show your ignorance on the topic?

          The key reason Trump will win is that people don't want the professional politician to continue to rob them blind. The first revolt was the tea party. Now its Trump. He may be a lot of things, but he's got his pulse on the American people and what they want.

          1. Blank Reg

            Re: @AC ... @Flocke Kroes The strangest thing about the whole story - calm down dear

            And how about that child rape case that recently got dropped because the witness was being intimidated. I have no doubt Trump is guilty on that one, we've known he was a dirt bag for decades, so such behaviour is right in line with his personality.

            Hopefully when he loses they will refile the charges.

        2. tekHedd

          Re: @Flocke Kroes The strangest thing about the whole story - calm down dear

          "So should those sentences run concurrently or consecutively? 10 years or 1100 years? And will Trump's multiple 20 year sentences for statutory rape be served in the same jail?"

          There's 2016 in a nutshell. Tu quoque arguments back and forth ad infinitum, with neither candidate being worthy of your vote.

      2. td97402

        Re: @Flocke Kroes The strangest thing about the whole story

        "Note: 110 emails were classified by different agencies at the time they were sent. Each one carries a 10 year prison sentence. That doesn't include the 2000+ emails that were later classified. The truth. She violated the espionage act and people died because of her and her incompetence. She's also still on the hook for the corruption and pay to play issue. That's a much more clear cut case... the numbers don't lie..."

        James Comey is a Republican. He donated to both Romney and McCain. He would have nailed Hillary if he could have. No email on her server carried any classified markings. That is why he looked for knowledge of the classified status or intent to disseminate same knowingly. No case was found that could be made in court. Fact.

        The "pay to play" is not a clear cut case unless you are reading the right-wing fantasy book "Clinton Cash" that was sponsored by Donald's campaign CEO Steve Bannon. The "pay to play" case was presented to the FBI's ethics unit and "they were unimpressed".

        The right-wing in this country like to fabricate scandal from whole cloth it seems. I used to be a registered Republican. No more. They've gone nuts since about the mid 90s or early 00s.

    5. ShadowDragon8685

      Re: The strangest thing about the whole story

      Thank you for that link. It would be very nice if we could just have that read aloud on a loop on the news this morning.

  3. MrDamage Silver badge

    inb4

    Big John coats his monitor with spittle during his next "everyone is conspiring against trump" rant.

    1. Don Dumb
      Meh

      Re: inb4

      @MrDamage - "during his next "everyone is conspiring against trump" rant"

      Well, no matter how true or false, no one conspired against Trump more than Trump himself!

      Always seemed a little pathetic of his supporters (and himself no less) to be upset at everyone else (potentially) working against him when even he wasn't working in his favour.

      1. YARR

        Re: inb4

        .. of course Hillary's accusation that the Russians hacked her email server are entirely true and backed by evidence.

        If the server was hacked, she's at fault for using an insecure private email server for work related email.

        1. Sven Coenye

          Re: inb4

          Clinton's server was not hacked to the extent anyone knows of. The DNC and the campaign servers were.

          1. Ian Michael Gumby
            Boffin

            @Sven ... Re: inb4

            Hillary's server was hacked. Any forensic evidence was lost due to incompetence of their IT Staff along with intentional deletions.

            We know it was ripe for hacking because her server ended up on a security researcher's list of unsecured exchange servers that were wide open to attacks. Then there were the phishing attempts.

            And most of all... Clinton went to Russia and China with her black berry and it wasn't secured and she was using it.

            There's more, but suffice it to say... she was extremely careless with Classified material. GROSSLY NEGLIGENCE is the legal term.

            Just the Weiner laptop is enough to put Huma away and the missing server and the fact Clinton's made was also handling classified docs... want to bet she sent copies to Vernon Jordan to keep him in the loop? (We can get the metadata to confirm this...)

            1. Blank Reg

              Re: @Sven ... inb4

              That's moronic, even for a Trump supporter. There is no evidence that it was hacked, so no reasonable person can claim it was hacked. The worst you can claim is that it may have been hacked.

            2. sabroni Silver badge

              Re: GROSSLY NEGLIGENCE is the legal term.

              No, "gross negligence" or "grossly negligent" would both be valid terms. Your knowledge of English appears similar to your knowledge of politics.

  4. Dr Stephen Jones

    Hillary innocent of everything

    Phew. Just in time, too.

    /sarcasm

  5. Version 1.0 Silver badge
    Facepalm

    But Wait ...

    Coming soon - Trump announces a new FBI investigation - after analyzing e-mails found in her Junk E-mail folder Hillery appears to be receiving requests for money from Nigerians - clearly a link to Obama who, unlike Ted Cruz, clearly wasn't born in America and is now trying to scam money to fly home and buy Viagra.

    I'm voting on Tuesday and this campaign has convinced me that ANY vote for ANY Republican for ANY elected position - even for a position on the local Metro Council - would be a betrayal of the principals on which this country was founded.

    I'm not throwing away my shot.

    1. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: But Wait ...

      The GOP have literally been traitors for the last 30 years.

      They have literally thrown the American people under the bus and sold out to foreign countries for their own monetary gain. They have deregulated industry to point they are killing people.

      Here's the latest example:

      "In Sept of 2010, Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill on Tuesday to end tax deductions enjoyed by companies that close their U.S. plants and move overseas.

      With a largely party-line vote of 53-45, Democrats failed to muster the 60 votes needed to clear a Republican procedural hurdle against the measure, which would also give employers a tax break to hire new U.S. workers.

      (2 months later the GOP were given the House majority by popular vote. You can't fix that kind of fucking stupid)

      Published November 03, 2011 Associated Press

      WASHINGTON – Republicans in the Senate Thursday dealt President Obama the third in a string of defeats on his stimulus-style jobs agenda, blocking a $60 billion measure for building and repairing infrastructure like roads and rail lines."

      1. h4rm0ny
        Headmaster

        Re: But Wait ...

        I agree with much of what you say, but not your repeated misuse of the word 'literally'.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The only letter left to write for Comey..

    The only letter left to write for Comey is his resignation - it's that or being thrown out as soon as the election is over.

    With this last letter, the bumbling idiot has demonstrated that he still hasn't got a clue what the real issue is at present: the FBI and any other agency is to exercise radio silence until the election has passed. With this last letter he is once again raking it up - and again breaking protocol in the most grievous way possible, and both possible explanations for that do not spell for a great future for him anywhere near process or secrets.

    Either he really is too dumb to see what he's doing, and that means he's not smart enough to avoid becoming a political playball instead of the impartial person he's supposed to be, or he IS smart enough to see what he's doing, in which case he has no excuse and should be lobbed out of his job toute suite for playing politics where they do not belong.

    Comey out, jail could be next.

    By the way, if Trump had been investigated to the same depth and breadth as Clinton I suspect he'd have to direct his campaign from jail if even 10% of the rumours surrounding his way of doing business are true, people with that attitude take shortcuts. Furthermore, if we accept Comey's behaviour as acceptable, I don't see why the Director of the IRS cannot follow suit and release Trump's tax returns "in the interest of the Nation"..

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The only letter left to write for Comey..

      The only letter left to write for Comey is his resignation

      This. As a medium-level UK public sector drone who's lived through a few general elections, I'm well familiar with the concept of "purdah".

      Sometimes it gets taken IMO far too seriously and departments agonise over whether they can release completely innocuous information. But the point is, it is taken seriously, and everyone knows it.

      I'd be genuinely surprised if there isn't something similar in America, or at least an awareness of the principle. If there is, Comey looks borderline negligent or incompetent.

      And even if there isn't, he still threw a very public spanner into the works of the campaign most likely (at the moment) to elect the next President. I can't imagine Hillary Clinton forgiving or forgetting that in a hurry, if she gets into the White House.

      1. Don Dumb

        Re: The only letter left to write for Comey..

        @AC - "I'm well familiar with the concept of "purdah".....But the point is, it is taken seriously, and everyone knows it......

        I'd be genuinely surprised if there isn't something similar in America, or at least an awareness of the principle. If there is, Comey looks borderline negligent or incompetent."

        He clearly knew. He was told by the Justice Department the letter would be against department policies and procedures and he ignored them. That is going to put him in a difficult position when the election is over.

      2. Vic

        Re: The only letter left to write for Comey..

        Comey looks borderline negligent or incompetent.

        That's hardly news; we all saw his nonsense about encryption just a few months back.

        I'm just hoping that this latest fiasco will demonstrate his level of competence to those outside our industry who didn't understand how uncorrelated are the phrases "Comey's mouth" and "rational thought"...

        Vic.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The only letter left to write for Comey..

      Typical DemonRat, always opting for people to break the law because they are so much more righteous than those who actually obey them. Try looking at the James O'Keefe videos from Project Veritas for the real lawbreakers here. They didn't make man talk about grabbing "Pussy" they plotted to lie to the American people and steal money and the election

      BTW, There is NO law or regulation that says that ANYONE is entitled to a Presidential Candidates tax returns. The 1995 returns of Trumps that the NYT put out were STOLEN by the Times!

      Trump never did anything to the extent of the KKKLintoons did. They have 40 years of highly criminal baggage they have to haul around and there are some 46 people DEAD in suspicious circumstances surrounding the KKKLintoons in those 40 years. Google it!

      The very worst they can come up with is the Billy Bush tapes. So what? Maybe that was "immature" but if that's the worst they can think of, they are nothing but clowns and I hope wins for nothing else but to shut you idiots up permanently

      1. ecofeco Silver badge

        Re: The only letter left to write for Comey..

        Take your meds AC. Your delusion is clinical.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The only letter left to write for Comey..

        always opting for people to break the law because they are so much more righteous than those who actually obey them

        Yawn. I'm not even going to write it all again

        BTW, There is NO law or regulation that says that ANYONE is entitled to a Presidential Candidates tax returns. The 1995 returns of Trumps that the NYT put out were STOLEN by the Times!

        Sure. But I place a reluctance to come clean against a candidate who has now been investigated TEN times for the same thing and come out clean. I suspect Trump would not even last a single investigation - as a matter of fact, he himself appears to be certain he won't even survive the disclosure of his tax returns. If Wikidribbles wants to save any credibility they ought to publish those so we can all see how white as snow is. Given his promises (which he broke one by one by always setting new conditions) it shouldn't be a promise releasing them, no? What does HE have to hide? His links to a major Russian bank? Oops? The fact that he still have multi-million dollar outstanding loans at a bank which the US is pursuing for a $14B fine for doing the same as Wall Street? The fact that he doesn't even know what a blind trust is?

        The very worst they can come up with is the Billy Bush tapes. So what? Maybe that was "immature" but if that's the worst they can think of, they are nothing but clowns and I hope wins for nothing else but to shut you idiots up permanently

        Let's just say that someone who is immature at an age past 50 is not really going to be correcting that attitude later on. It's but one sign of many, many reasons why this man should not have even been in the race, let alone stand a chance. And, as illustrated before, I have a suspicion that Trump is hiding a lot more and I have a suspicion that next year, a lot of that will start leaking, irrespective of him becoming a president or not.

        The only problem is that with him as president, nobody will care as we'll be too busy prepping for either WW III or another economic crash so him and his Russian friends can buy more US assets on the cheap.

      3. Don Dumb
        Facepalm

        I see you use those three letters.....

        @AC - "Trump never did anything to the extent of the KKKLintoons did."

        Wow. Despite that being patently untrue (though I 'm clear you are very much post-truth). You oddly use the letters 'KKK', seemingly in an effort to smear the Clintons as having an association with the Klan, when the KKK are clearly rooting for Trump, so much so that he wouldn't even criticise them.

        This is what amazes me about Trump supporters - everything they criticise Hillary for, Trump is worse. They call her a crook, when *he* is the one on trial, this month. They say she is 'the elite' when he inherited 10s/100s of $millions. They attack her foundation, yet he used his to pay his bills and buy paintings of himself. They strike at her hiding things from the public, when he *still* hasn't produced his tax returns.

        She may not be perfect but the rest of the world wonders why this was ever even close.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          @Don Dumn... Re: I see you use those three letters.....

          The Clintons do have a relationship to the KKK.

          1. Don Dumb

            Re: @Don Dumn... I see you use those three letters.....

            @AC - "The Clintons do have a relationship to the KKK."

            Is that relationship in the form of public denouncements.

            The KKK aren't supporting them in the election, are they? Not, when they are fully behind old Drump

        2. Blank Reg

          Re: I see you use those three letters.....

          That's one of Trump's main strategies. For anything of which he's guilty, he tries to accuse the Clintons of doing the same, only worse. It would be really quite funny if it weren't for his idiot followers that fall for it all.

          1. JustNiz

            Re: I see you use those three letters.....

            Evidently you're yet another person living in ignorance or denial about how totally corrupt Clinton is. If you're British its very forgivable though, given the radical pro-Hillary/anti-Trump bias of the UK media, especially the BBC.

      4. Kurt Meyer

        Re: The only letter left to write for Comey..

        @ "AC"

        "Typical DemonRat... Bob, Bob, Bob, blah, blah, blah, Bob, Bob, Bob, blah, blah, blah, Bob, Bob, Bob, blah, blah, blah, Bob, Bob, Bob, blah, blah, blah."

        Hi Bob, that post anonymously feature is really, really, handy, eh?

  7. Uffish

    The innocence of Americans ...

    Years of watching Hollywood movies, TV series, "choose the right answer" school tests, all-you-can-eat food outlets and all the other dumbed down aspects of US life have nearly wrecked a great country.

    1. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: The innocence of Americans ...

      Nearly? We are WAY past nearly.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Come(d)y come(dy)down

    These are not elections, these are "bread and games".

    1. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: Come(d)y come(dy)down

      Pretty much because it's still Wall St., big oil and the military industrial complex that runs America.

      1. Crazy Operations Guy

        Re: Come(d)y come(dy)down

        "Pretty much because it's still Wall St., big oil and the military industrial complex that runs America."

        They only reason that could be true is that they participate in local politics. These companies are most affected not by the billion dollar deals occurring in the senate, but by the local city council meetings, by the various public hearings held in school gymnasium and church basements. They win not by dirty practices, but because no one else shows up to these events so the only opinion the local councils get is "This deal will be bring $10 million dollars into the city" as said by the PR guy for that multi-national oil company and no one form the community to even ask "But how much pollution will be generated?"

        The Flint Water Crisis happened not because of anyone on the federal, or even on the state-level, governments, but because no one showed up to provide a dissenting opinion to the decision to switch water supplies (In fact, not a single soul had shown up, nor to nay previous meetings or any following meetings). The whole crisis could have been avoided if just a single plumber showed up to ask "The Flint river is terrible, how will it affect our pipes?" or even just a regular citizen asking for the state or federal EPA do a study on it.

        The vast majority of power and money in the US is controlled by random chuckle-fucks that ran unopposed for the position of "City Council Member #27" or "County Comptroller". Remember, that guy that ran for "Public Safety Commissioner" might have just wasted $5 million dollars on getting Stryker Transports for a 10-office police department because the representative from Raytheon told him that it would protect the people; Councilwoman #13 may have just passed a resolution that makes it overly difficult for a local Credit Union to set up shop but would allow Chase bank to come right in a set up shop without a problem; the City's environmental agency public hearing in the elementary school on a construction project last week might have just allowed ExxonMobil to build a refinery along the shore line.

        1. willi0000000

          Re: Come(d)y come(dy)down

          the reason nobody raised a question at a public meeting about the water in Flint MI was that there was no meeting . . . when you are being governed by an unelected "emergency manager" he don't need no steenking meetings.

  9. Velv
    Big Brother

    I love how they have to get search warrants so they can make public the fact that they have the emails...

  10. Cynical Observer
    Stop

    Was Hillary the real target?

    One opinion that has been positioned is that damaging Hillary Clinton's chances was not necessarily the true target of these announcements. If as seems to be the case, there is an acceptance that The Donald will fall at the last hurdle, then the GOP has to hold both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

    With those in GOP hands, Hillary is shackled and much as Obama has struggled to achieve his agenda over the last 6 years, she will fail to make much change.

    The real fallout from the last week is the down ticket voting - momentum which was tilting towards the Democrats is expected to come back to Republican candidates.

  11. RIBrsiq

    So... emails no older than 7 years were not found on a decade-old laptop. I am completely shocked by that revelation!

    I wonder where this "presumption of innocence" stuff I keep hearing about went, in this case?

    "Non-partisan" my behind, is all I have to say!!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I'm more amazed that a decade old laptop was even usable. My experience with Windows of that age is that it is perennially blocked from being usable by its need to download several GB worth of patches and the endless, endless warnings that support has ended, the antivirus subscription has run out and countless renewal popups warring for focus and hiding the one, singlebutton you need to click to make it progress whatever it feels justifying freezing the whole machine for.

      If they got that to work, accusations of witchcraft are certainly in order...

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    When did they repeal the S-Ox legislation that made it illegal to ("accidentally") delete emails following Enron's mysterious losses?

    And to do it not once but AT LEAST three times?

    And some people say there's no evidence she did anything wrong...

    1. RIBrsiq
      Facepalm

      You seem to be unable to use a search engine. Let me help you with that (on a related note: Clippy icon, please?):

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarbanes%E2%80%93Oxley_Act

      Read. Just the first paragraph will suffice, really.

      Do you see anything applicable?

      On a more serious note, and as has already been pointed out by many others here and elsewhere, Hillary has been investigated so much that it is by now clear to anyone reasonable that there's nothing to find. Unreasonable people cannot be helped.

      1. Fading

        Second opinion.........

        Getting a second opinion isn't when you ask the same doctor twice.......

    2. localzuk Silver badge

      I thought S-Ox applied to corporate emails. Don't think the govt applies...

  13. Stevie

    Bah!

    But Trump confidently predicted the 33000 deleted emails - the ones that contain everything from falsified travel vouchers to the Whitewater Confessions and The Murder Plot - would be in the Weiner Trove.

    Does this mean the emails were there and were entirely irrelevant, or were not there proving that Trump is not the Kwisatz Haderach after all?

    1. Rich 11

      Re: Bah!

      Trump claims he is the Kwisatz Haderach? Perhaps he should be tested with the gom jabbar.

      1. Stevie

        Re: Trump claims he is the Kwisatz Haderach?

        Obliquely; what else could he be claiming when he says "Nobody knows [insert subject matter] better then me, believe me"?

        Plus, his on-video comments show that he is not only able, but willing to go to a place women are unable to see*.

        What other conclusion could be drawn?

        * Without a mirror

    2. Captain Badmouth
      Coat

      Re: Bah! - wrong film!

      Jabba the Hutt, shirley.

      Mine's the one rigged desert fashion, thanks.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The Dead Zone

    Speaking of shooters, does Trump's candidacy remind anyone else of the film, The Dead Zone in which a Trump-like candidate (Greg Stillson) is destined to become US president and cause a nuclear holocaust by launching the missiles in a first-strike against Russia?

    1. YARR

      Re: The Dead Zone

      Trump stated he would never initiate a nuclear first strike and wants to improve relations with Russia.

      Hillary's stated policy of imposing a no-fly-zone over Syria (where the US has no recognised authority) will require a war with Russia - according to Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford.

      It's your choice who you vote for... but Hillary's policy will start WW3 and the US will become a "Dead Zone" if she doesn't back down.

      1. veti Silver badge

        Re: The Dead Zone

        Yeah... the US has previously imposed "no fly zones" over Iraq, Bosnia & Herzegovinia, Libya, without any legal mandate, and somehow we've survived so far.

        World War Three doesn't seem as bad as we thought.

        1. YARR

          Re: The Dead Zone

          In the past UN resolutions were used to enforce no-fly zones. The justification for intervention on each of these occasions have been decreasingly valid, and were often based on disinformation.

          The difference this time is that there is a modern air force operating in Syria backed up by S300 and S400 air defence systems, and the Russians are committed to defending their bases there. If NATO did successfully penetrate the air defence system they would likely trigger an escalatory counter attack.

          If you think WW3 wouldn't seem all that bad (!) you're on the same level as Hillary with her deteriorating parkinsons.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm calling bullshit on the 650,000 email number.

    I just ran some stats on my email stores and the average size for my corporate emails over the past ten years is 164kB. For my personal email, the average size is less than half that - 73kB.

    So 650,000 emails is between 50 and 106GB of storage.

    Who keeps that volume of email? Even Carlos Danger must delete emails once in a while.

    What version of Outlook or Thunderbird can handle that volume of email? I'm presuming that neither Weiner or his wife are technically adept enough (based on other events) to be using OST or PST files to store archived content.

    1. A. Coatsworth Silver badge
      Mushroom

      Exactly what I was thinking. All normal corporate laptops I've ever seen (Lenovo or HP running Win Vista, 7, 8) utterly choke when the email folder hits the 7000 messages mark. How a 10-year-old laptop could manage to work with over half a million emails in, is anybody's guess

      1. veti Silver badge

        Really? I just counted, there are close to 8000 messages in my email right now. What should I do?

      2. ITS Retired

        That file was a .pst file backup from one of Hillary's e-mail severs. it was not generated on that laptop.

        The limit for .pst file size is 2 gig. That is a lot of text.

      3. BinkyTheMagicPaperclip Silver badge

        Rubbish

        My main e-mail folder currently has 50,000 e-mails in it, another one has 70,000, and no longer updated .pst has 25,000 plus. None are making the computer fall over..

  16. Florida1920
    Big Brother

    Top 5 Times the FBI intervened to Help the US Right Wing

    http://www.juancole.com/2016/11/times-intervened-right.html

  17. dalethorn

    Mission accomplished. Next, the election, then she gets prosecuted. And BTW, did Braverman turn up yet?

  18. ecofeco Silver badge

    But, but....

    Benghazi! Obamacare! Fake birth certificate! Gays! My guns!

    She's guilty of something, dammit!

    /far right wing rant

  19. Herby

    Thankfully...

    most of this will be "ancient history" come Wednesday morning. Then one of two things will happen:

    1) It is buried forever in a really big coverup.

    2) It sees the light of day and we will all know what is going on.

    Time will tell.

  20. Captain Badmouth
    Alien

    Is there any reason...

    that Colin Powell didn't undergo the same treatment for using a private email account in the same circumstances? Apart from being a secretary of state in a republican administration, obviously.

    Icon : The real Donald.

    1. h4rm0ny

      Re: Is there any reason...

      Yes. The relevant laws that Hillary may have contravened were introduced after Colin Powell's private email server. You can't and shouldn't retroactively try someone for laws that weren't in place when an act was committed.

  21. JustNiz

    So much for unbiassed reporting.

  22. 404
    Mushroom

    Just fucking stop it...

    I literally can't fucking go anywhere IRL or internet-wise without hearing about the fucking US Presidential election. Fuck BOTH of them! How about them apples?

    I cannot fucking wait until I vote tomorrow for write-in candidate Deez Nutz - know why? We're pretty much fucked no matter what happens.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Just fucking stop it...

      http://trumpfilter.com/

      http://hillaryfilter.com/

      1. projectjay

        Re: Just fucking stop it...

        Looks like it's worked! We have entered the world of an Adam Curtis Doc

        Everybody that cares loses. Everybody with power wins — It's just a FPS

  23. This post has been deleted by its author

  24. niio

    So 30k emails from the original server can only be released in sets of thousands spread over nearly a year so State can review them (we still don't have them all) but the FBI finds 650k emails innocent in a couple of weeks? Right...

  25. Alan1kiwi

    Thank God

    I do not live in the US of A, the home of paranoia, and guns. The place where nonsense is a media thing, and everything else flows from there.

    Good lord, get a life, and get a conscience.

    What else do you need? Short of a Swiss army knife.

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