Some things should be hidden from public view. Classified information. Anthony Weiner’s privates. Leave it to history’s weirdest presidential race to spotlight both, combining them as part of an apparent national security breach.
Reports in August claimed former New York congressman Weiner sent more pornographic selfies to a woman, including a photo with his young son lying next to him in bed. Investigators suspect the recipient may be an underage girl. Weiner is married to Huma Abedin, vice chair of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Donald Trump took the high road in August, saying “Huma is making a very wise decision” by separating from Weiner.
Then Trump went negative, suggesting the Clinton campaign’s link to a sexting pervert could have national security implications.
“I only worry for the country in that Hillary Clinton was careless and negligent in allowing Weiner to have such close proximity to highly classified information,” Trump said. “Who knows what he learned and who he told?”
Media pounced, saying Trump was out of line.
“Donald Trump is blaming Hillary Clinton for the actions of her aide’s husband, bringing into focus his fraught relationship with the female sex,” wrote Olivia Nuzzi for The Daily Beast.
“Donald Trump made the jump from exploitation to crazed conspiracy theory,” wrote Jason Easley in Politics USA.
Then came an October bombshell Friday, in the form of FBI Director James Comey announcing he would renew an investigation into Clinton’s mishandling of classified information. The New York Times learned the matter pertains to Weiner, Abedin and information on their electronic devices.
The Times explained Friday: “Emails from Hillary Clinton’s private server were found after the F.B.I. seized electronic devices once shared by Anthony D. Weiner and his estranged wife, Huma Abedin, a top aide to Mrs. Clinton, federal law enforcement officials said Friday.”
Maybe Trump knew something in August. Maybe he has good instincts or the common sense to know the mishandling of national secrets risks putting them into the hands of shady friends, colleagues and acquaintances. For whatever reason, Trump warned of Weiner’s proximity to Clinton.
We don’t know what the FBI has, what the agency might find or what it will conclude. It could be a game changer; it could be no big deal. We only know the dangers associated with a secretary of state compromising national secrets.
Friday’s revelation elicited a similar message from Republicans, Democrats and the Clinton campaign. All want the FBI to release details of the emails immediately, so voters can make up their minds in the final days of voting.
We could not agree more. The FBI has mishandled Clinton’s security lapses all along, doing an extraordinary disservice to the public. It’s time for the country’s highest ranking law enforcement agency to set politics aside and stand for the truth.
___
(c)2016 The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Visit The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) at www.gazette.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
—-
This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology.
Recent Comments