opinion piece by legal expert Jonathan Turley (no right-winger)
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-bl...t-off-the-hook-while-trump-faces-dogged-probe
It is never good when the Justice Department appears to be following the guidelines written by Lewis Carroll as opposed to the U.S. Attorneys Manual. The manual goes into great detail over the need to review evidence, witnesses and culpability before initiating or declining charges. It is hard to see how such provisions were followed by former FBI Director James Comey, who reportedly drafted a statement declining charges in the Hillary Clinton Email scandal before interviewing key witnesses, including Clinton herself. He issued his controversial announcement of no charges two months later.
For many, the timing looks like a weird variation of the Red Queen’s demand of “sentence first, verdict later” from Alice in Wonderland. In this case, it seems like “exoneration first, investigation later.” Notably, when the Red Queen uttered those infamous words, the court was debating whether to read evidence against Alice in the form of a letter. The White Rabbit told the King, “There’s more evidence to come yet, please your majesty,” but the court would have none of its. When the Queen insisted that there was there was no need for such evidence, Alice exclaimed, “Why, you don’t even know what they’re about!”
The same question might have been asked when Comey wrote his statement before actually speaking to the key witnesses.
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-bl...t-off-the-hook-while-trump-faces-dogged-probe
It is never good when the Justice Department appears to be following the guidelines written by Lewis Carroll as opposed to the U.S. Attorneys Manual. The manual goes into great detail over the need to review evidence, witnesses and culpability before initiating or declining charges. It is hard to see how such provisions were followed by former FBI Director James Comey, who reportedly drafted a statement declining charges in the Hillary Clinton Email scandal before interviewing key witnesses, including Clinton herself. He issued his controversial announcement of no charges two months later.
For many, the timing looks like a weird variation of the Red Queen’s demand of “sentence first, verdict later” from Alice in Wonderland. In this case, it seems like “exoneration first, investigation later.” Notably, when the Red Queen uttered those infamous words, the court was debating whether to read evidence against Alice in the form of a letter. The White Rabbit told the King, “There’s more evidence to come yet, please your majesty,” but the court would have none of its. When the Queen insisted that there was there was no need for such evidence, Alice exclaimed, “Why, you don’t even know what they’re about!”
The same question might have been asked when Comey wrote his statement before actually speaking to the key witnesses.
