Good News: Defense Lawyers Plan To Use The “Clinton Defense”

09 Jul, 2016 by William Teach

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Perhaps it would be better to call it the “Comey Defense”, since it was FBI Director James Comey who decided, after spending lots of time laying out a criminal case against Hillary, that he wouldn’t bother recommending an indictment

FBI Director James Comey’s Hillary Clinton email recommendation gives lawyers a new line of defense

The FBI recommendation not to prosecute Hillary Clinton and her staff on charges of mishandling classified information will give those accused of flouting national security rules a new line of defense even as it highlights a dual standard in how senior government officials are treated, several experts said Wednesday. (snip)

Lawyers who specialize in representing government and military officials who’ve had security clearances revoked said Comey’s recommendation offered them a new tactic in seeking to rehabilitate their clients, especially if Clinton is elected president in November.

“I intend to use the Hillary defense,” said Sean M. Bigley, a lawyer whose firm handles dozens of cases a year involving national security clearances. “I really question how any agency can say someone is a security risk if the president of the United States did something similar.”

He added, “We’ve had people lose 20-year careers for doing less than what she did.”

Another lawyer, Mark F. Riley, stated

We have the Petraeus ceiling and the Clinton floor. We have a new standard as to what comprises intent with respect to criminal cases.

“I’m going to use it every chance I get, particularly in oral arguments. I’m going to bring it up over and over and over,” Riley said, adding that he thinks Clinton and her team engaged in “an egregious, egregious security violation.”

The article continues on in this vein for quite some time, and these lawyers are entirely correct: how do you prosecute someone who’s violations were less than Hillary’s when Hillary was let off the hook? We cannot forget that people in positions of power, and especially the people in overall charge, should be held to a higher standard. With that power comes more responsibility for doing the right thing. Heck, they sign documents, including security handling ones, to that effect.

The lawyers have been given a golden opportunity to get their clients off the hook, when they shouldn’t be. Will their defense work? Time will tell. There are consequences when the Elites are given passes because they are elites.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.