By now it’s common knowledge that FBI Director James Comey chose not to recommend charges be pressed against Hillary Clinton over the email scandal for personal reasons. Comey said there was a “lack of precedence” for charging a person in these circumstances. He said the FBI could not find one single case where charges were pressed for similar behavior. Well, we beg to differ. Here are 10 cases that contradict his statement dramatically.
1. A Clinton Security Adviser found guilty of Destroying National Archive Documents
In 2005, Sandy Berger pleaded guilty to stealing classified National Archive documents- stashing the papers in his suit, destroying some of them, and lying about it.
2. Security Official Fired for Linking to Classified Wikileaks Document
Foreign service officer, Peter Van Buren, had his security clearance revoked and was fired for quoting Wikileaks after publishing a critique of Clinton. The Washington Post reported that among his misdeeds “showed bad judgment” by leveling criticism against Clinton and Michele Bachmann on his personal blog.
3. CIA Director Pardoned After Storing Classified Info on a Personal Computer
The CIA director for President Clinton, John Deutch, had classified information taken from a government computer in his home computer just days after leaving the CIA. He was pardoned during plea negotiations by Bill Clinton.
4. Navy Man Sentenced for Mishandling Classified Documents
Bryan Nishimura pled guilty to the removal and retention of classified material in 2007 and 2008. The AP newswire tellingly wrote– “A search of Nishimura’s home revealed classified documents, but not evidence that he had any plans to distribute them.” Those are nearly the exact same words by which we were told that Hillary Clinton was not to be held responsible.
Nishimura received a two-year sentence, two years probation, and a fine of $7,500. He also was made to give up his security clearance. But this has no bearing whatsoever on Clinton’s chances to become the next Commander-in-Chief.
5. Sailor Smuggles Classified Materials off a Navy Ship
A Navy man admitted recently that he secreted classified materials out of Fort Bragg and then sold them illegally for $11,500 to a Chinese agent.
6. Submariner Prosecuted for Less Serious Crime than Clinton
Petty Officer Kristian Saucier took photos of a classified engine room on a nuclear submarine, then he destroyed a laptop, his camera, and memory card after being informed that he was being investigated. He was indicted for unlawfully retaining national defense information and obstruction of justice.
7. Marine Corps. Major Sent Classified Material Using his Personal Email Account
Jason Brezler was discharged from the Marines for accidentally taking home 14 documents, some of which were designated as classified material.
8. Lab Tech Steals Nuclear Facility Data
Former Los Alamos National Laboratory tech, Jessica Quintana, pleaded guilty to “willfully taking classified national security research documents. She took the sensitive documents and data home from the lab in 2015.
9. NSA Official Gives Classified Info to Reporter
An NSA manager was indicted for willful possession of “national defense” information, making a false statement, and obstructing justice. He is accused of “passed sensitive national defense data to a reporter for the Baltimore Sun who wrote exposes on NSA mismanagement.” The charges were dropped and he was allowed to plead down to a misdemeanor.
This reduction in the charges, (quite ironically- when contrasted to the case of the Clinton emails), has been labeled as a victory against the notoriously toothily anti-whistle blower Obama administration which had been pushing to leverage outdated laws against whistleblowers who leak classified information. Now, the administration is apparently quite content to let such intelligence leaks slide- when Hillary Clinton is the guilty party.
10. State Dept. Official Sentenced to Prison for Stealing Classified Docs
Donald Keyser received more than a year in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of Criminal Information handling. He admitted to having willfully and illegally removing digital memory devices containing classified documents from the Department of State.
The U.S. Attorney, Chuck Rosenberg, said Keyser “had violated his obligation to guard the information he was entrusted with and willfully and absolutely failed to do so.” Rosenberg added, “Keyser’s sentence should serve as a warning to other officials holding positions of public trust of the repercussions that that may face should they mishandle their duties.”
We hope Tim Kaine will catch wind of these cases so that he can correct his comment that Donald Trump’s claim suggesting anyone else who did what Hillary did would face serious charges was, “Just not true.”
Regards,
Ethan Warrick
Editor
Wealth Authority
