I am sure this will elicit a backlash from those who want to “Lock Her Up”. I am also pretty sure that her still stunned supporters will protest that she has already been cleared of any wrongdoing and should not be investigated.
But, hear me out. A protracted investigation will do nothing more than increase the divide between the left and the right. It will cost the tax payers millions. It will derail any effort to move forward with reforms or simply doing the nation’s business. It is a losing proposition no matter which way you approach it and, in reality, will only serve to create a martyr out of Hillary Clinton at a time when many just want her to go away. It will be an unnecessary distraction at a time when we all need focus on the future of this country.
The headlines today seem to indicate that the President-elect does not want to initiate an investigation in order to allow Mrs. Clinton to “heal”. If you take him at his word, that seems to be a reasonable position to take to avoid looking like you are vindictively prosecuting a political rival. But tomorrow is another day and Mr. Trump retains the prerogative to change his tweet without warning.
He did not ask the Speaker of the House or the Senate Majority Leader to shut down Congressional committee investigations that are still looking for a pound of her email. A few of the Republican chairs of various committees don’t seem inclined to let go of ongoing efforts that could result in requests from the House or Senate to the incoming administration’s Justice Department to indict Secretary Clinton.
I do believe she lied about everything from Benghazi to her reckless mishandling of classified information. I think the advisors around her were corrupt and complicit in trying to coverup the extent of her willful disregard for laws governing the handling of material. I believe, despite the declarations of current FBI Director and Attorney General that her actions did not rise to the level of a crime, there is ample evidence that could lead to her conviction in a court of law with an impartial jury.
I don’t think we can find an impartial jury for her.
Here is my recommendation. President Obama should grant her a blanket pardon for her actions while Secretary of State and the coverup of her email server after she left office. I also think that her immediate aides should also be pardoned. It would be grossly unfair for Huma Abedin to be punished when Secretary Clinton gets off with a pass. Besides, isn’t being married to Anthony Weiner enough punishment for any human?
President Obama will not likely suffer any further decline in popularity for doing this. The people who will howl about the injustice of a pardon don’t like him anyway. Those that would support it are already in Secretary Clinton’s camp or realize that the future of the country is more important that living in Hillary’s past. I don’t see a downside. I even think this will take some of the pressure off of the incoming president.
In a way, this could be a turning point in moving towards a better future in the same way that President Ford’s pardoning of Richard Nixon was back in September 1974.
