FBI’s reopening of probe into Clinton emails ‘not a good omen’

The FBI’s announcement that it is reopening an investigation into new emails sent by US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on a private server during her time as secretary of state is “not a good omen” for her, according to Myles Hoenig, an American political analyst and activist.

On Friday, FBI Director James Comey rocked the US presidential race by announcing that more emails pertaining to its investigation of Clinton's server had been discovered. The FBI chief said the bureau was taking “appropriate investigative steps.”

“In American politics, it is usually late Friday afternoons or holidays that the worst news of the day is released from the White House or its departments in order to give themselves time to control the spin as well as to divert attention,” Hoenig told Press TV on Saturday.

“President Obama signed the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) the day after Christmas. That act abrogated principles of civil liberties that were 800 years old, coming from the Magna Carta. Now, the president has the authority on his/her own to arrest and put into military detention anyone they feel is a threat to national security, without any due process,” he stated.

“Sometimes the release of serious information during off-times does not work. The Saturday Night Massacre, where President Nixon fired the special prosecutor investigating his Watergate criminality, certainly backfired and resulted in his near-impeachment and resignation,” the analyst said.

“Now the FBI has come out on a Friday to announce that new emails are being discovered from an unrelated criminal investigation (involving the estranged husband of a senior Clinton advisor) that might have some bearing on the email scandal that has plagued Clinton throughout her race for the presidency and for which the FBI has already whitewashed,” he noted.

It’s not ‘October surprise’

Hoenig said this is “not a good omen for Clinton.”

“It is doubtful that this is the ‘October surprise’ everyone was expecting as this did not come from WikiLeaks. Perhaps that’s yet to come?” he asked.

“The Trump camp cannot hide their glee in all of this. He is even praising the FBI for righting a mistake they made by exonerating her previously and even claiming that perhaps the system isn’t as rigged as he suggested,” the commentator said.

“This was also not a good omen for the Republican Party as well, as the establishment is nearly fully behind Clinton in her race against their own nominee. The last thing the Democrat and Republican establishment would want is Clinton to lose,” he opined.

“There are certainly some who look forward to her being elected. Namely those congress members, like Jason Chaffetz, who chair committees investigating Clinton from the email scandal, to Benghazi, to the Clinton Foundation. They’re saying they have years of materials to review and that there will be no honeymoon for a President Clinton,” the commentator observed.

“Whether this latest episode derails her campaign is not assured, but what is a reality is that it won’t end on November 8th or January 20, 2017, her inauguration,” Hoenig said in his concluding remarks. 

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