A lot of people (myself included) are tired of this email scandal. The subsequent investigations by FBI director, James Comey and the constant bickering by Donald Trump, and Hillary Clinton have been an unnecessary distraction leading up to this election.
Regardless of the attempts to investigate Hillary for the contents of these emails, and following a meeting with Loretta Lynch where she tried to dissuade him from releasing documents or investigating their content, it was announced yesterday by Comey, for a second straight time, that Mrs. Clinton “committed no criminal wrongdoing.”
How the FBI reviewed 650,000 emails in eight days, or why exactly Comey decided to double back, and review the situation, is unclear. What is clear though, is that this might be the worst lead up to an election in United States history.
With this in mind, a reader suggested on the eve of the 2016 election, that we review in chronological order, the scandals of both major candidates.
Here’s the Elections Scandal Guide for 2016.
March 2nd, 2015 – Private email server
• New York Times reports that Hillary Clinton used a private email server as secretary of State.
March 10th, 2015 – Out of convenience
• Clinton defends her use of the private server, saying it was out of “convenience” so she could have one device for personal use and one for business. “Looking back, it would’ve been better for me to use two separate phones and two separate email-accounts,” she said. “I thought using one device would be simpler. Obviously, it hasn’t worked out that way.”
June 16th, 2015 – Mexicans are rapists
• Donald Trump announced his presidency with a quote that immediately drew backlash for it’s criticism of Mexicans. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists, and some I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards and they’re telling us what we’re getting.”
July 8th, 2015 – John McCain’s war record
• Trump questions 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s war hero status. “He’s not a war hero,” he says of McCain, who was a prisoner of war during time spent in Vietnam. “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”
July 24th, 2015 – Compromised information
• Inspector general at the state department and the office of Director of National Intelligence asks the Justice Department to investigate whether classified information was compromised while stored on Clinton’s private network.
August 2015 – Federal investigation
• A federal official confirms the FBI is investigating Hillary Clinton’s handling of government documents on her private server.
August 7th, 2015 – Megyn Kelly
• Shortly after the first Republican primary debate, Trump takes issue with Fox News host Megyn Kelly. He says “She gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions. You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” The statement is interpreted to mean that he is referring to Ms Kelly’s menstruation.
August 11th, 2015 – Servers turned over to Justice Department
• Clinton’s campaign says she was directed by the Justice Department to hand over the private server.
September 9th, 2015 – Carly Fiorina’s looks
• During a Rolling Stone interview, Trump criticizes Republican primary opponent Carly Fiorina. “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!”
November 24th, 2015 – Reporter’s disability
• During a rally, Trump appears to mock a New York Times reporter saying “Now the poor guy, you ought to see this guy.” mocking the reporters handicap gestures. The reporter, Serge Kovaleski, has anthrogryposis.
December 2nd, 2015 – Killing terrorists’ families
• Trump suggests on Fox & Friends the US should kill terrorists’ family members. “The other thing with terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families.” Torture, or killing of citizens by the state is in direct violation of the Geneva Convention.
December 7th, 2015 – Banning Muslims
• Trump announces his plan to ban all Muslims from entering the US. “Donald J. Trump is calling for a complete and total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States, until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” The quote comes from a press release from his campaign.
February 1st, 2016 – Threatening protesters
• Trump encourages supporters to attack protesters at his rallies saying, “If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. Ok? Just knock the hell. I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees.”
March 22nd, 2016 Ted Cruz’s wife
• Trump threatens to “spill the beans” on opponent Ted Cruz’s wife Heidi. Two days later he retweets an unflattering picture of Ms. Cruz. Two days later, he says the retweet was “a mistake”.
March 30th, 2016 – Punishing women for abortions
• Trump suggests women that have abortions should be punished, if he’s able to overturn Roe v Wade, a landmark ruling from the Supreme Court that prevents the government from banning them. “The answer is there has to be some sort of punishment,” he says during an appearance on Chris Matthews’ show on MSNBC.
May 2016 – Report issued
• Inspector general at the State Department issues a report criticizing Clinton’s use of private email, saying department policies dating back to 2005 require that “normal day-to-day operations” be conducted on government issued computers.
May 27th, 2016 – Judge’s heritage
• Trump attacks a Hispanic American judge who issued an unfavourable rulling against his now defunct education venture, Trump University saying it was “an absolute conflict” and that he should’ve recused himself because of his “Mexican heritage”, The judge, Gonzalo Curiel, was born in Indiana.
July 1st, 2016 – FBI recommendations
• Attorney General, Loretta Lynch accepts recommendations from the FBI, in an attempt to dispel criticisms of a potential conflict of interest after she met with former president Bill Clinton on the tarmac of Phoenix airport.
July 2nd, 2016 – Hillary Clinton interviewed by FBI
• Hillary is interviewed by the FBI for 3 1/2 hours in Washington, D.C. During questioning, she states 40 times that she “couldn’t recall.”
July 5th, 2016 – James Comey recommends not to prosecute
• As a result of his investigations, FBI director James Comey recommends not to prosecute Clinton.
July 6th, 2016 – Loretta Lynch announces recommendations
• Attorney General Loretta Lynch takes FBI recommendation and announces Department of Justice will not press charges against Hillary.
July 7th, 2016 – Comey appears before the House Oversight Committee
• FBI director James Comey appears before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee for more than four hours to defend his decision not to charge Hillary Clinton.
July 11th, 2016 – Investigation into perjory
• Republican lawmakers send letter to open investigation into whether or not Hillary Clinton lied to Congress during testimony about the email server.
July 27th, 2016 – Russian hacks
• Trump calls on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails. “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.” Later, he takes back the comment saying he was being “sarcastic”.
July 30th, 2016 – Bereaved parents
• Trump criticizes Khizr and Ghazala Khan, a Muslim family whose son Humayun Khan, died in Iraq, after the couple appears at the Democratic convention. “If you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably – maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say.” Trump says in an interview with ABC News.
July 31st, 2016 Clinton appears on Fox News
• Hillary appears on Fox News Sunday and is asked about her claim that she never sent or received classified information. Clinton responds by saying Comey “said my answers were truthful, and what I’ve said is consistent with what I have told the American people, that there were decisions discussed and made to classify retroactively certain of the emails.” But Comey told congress during the hearing “There was classified material emailed.”
August 9th, 2016 – Second Amendment people
• During a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina he seems to suggest supporters of the Second amendment should use their right to bear arms to go after Hillary. He says “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks,” adding “Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know.”
August 10th, 2016 – Obama and Clinton founded Isis
• Trump accuses President Obama and Mrs. Clinton of founding Isis. He says “President Obama is the founder of Isis. He founded Isis. And I would say the co-founder would be Crooked Hillary Clinton.”
September 16th, 2016 – Birther Conspiracy
• The birther accusations stretch all the way back to March, 2011. But for most of 2015, and large parts of 2016, Donald Trump was a leading proponent of the conspiracy theory that President Barack Obama’s citizenship was up for debate, going so far as to say during an interview with Bill O’Reilly on Fox News” “He doesn’t have a birth certificate. He may have one, but there’s something on that. Maybe religion, maybe it says he is a Muslim. I don’t know.”
September 27th, 2016 – Miss Universe
• Former Miss Universe contestant, Alicia Machado comes forward to say Trump referred to her as “Miss Piggy“ after she gained weight, following her beauty pageant win. Trump follows up those comments by calling Machado “disgusting” and a “con”.
September 28th, 2016 – Comey Oversight hearing
• Comey appears for a congressional oversight hearing, but spends most of it defending his decision not to charge Clinton. “You can call us wrong, but don’t call us weasels. We are not weasels.”, adding “Whether or not you agree with the results, this was done the way you want it to be done.”
October 7th, 2016 – Groping Women
• Washington Post publishes a 2005 video where Trump brags about getting away with “anything” because of his celebrity status.
October 28th, 2016 – Comey reopens investigation into Clinton server probe
• Comey announces the bureau is reviewing new emails found on a laptop shared by Huma Abedin and her estranged husband, Anthony Weiner, that could be of relevance.
November 6th, 2016 – Comey announces updated verdict
• Comey announced in a letter to lawmakers, that the agency’s review of the new emails matches the previous conclusion, that Hillary shouldn’t be prosecuted.
Donald Trump scandal count – 16
Hillary Clinton scandal count – 18
Media Spin 