Profligate Mendacity

Today is Jim Comey’s day on the hot seat, and I have to get something out of my system. It’s something I’ve probably said before.

When Hillary Clinton was “investigated” regarding her intentional mishandling of classified information and her illegal, deliberate use of a private email server, Comey’s report said she was “grossly negligent,” which was kind, since the legal definition of negligence doesn’t include intentional behavior. Demoted FBI agent Peter Strzok changed it. The new phrase: “extremely careless.”

“Gross negligence” is a phrase lawyers use. They could use other terms to mean the same thing, but lawyers like to stick to specific, traditional phrases others have used before them.

Strzok isn’t a lawyer, but he works with the law every day, and he surely knows the legal importance of many phrases, including “gross negligence.” Also, he has been exposed as a fervent supporter of Hillary Clinton. He is very, very hostile to Donald Trump.

Strzok was worried about the Espionage Act of 1917, codified as 18 U.S.C. § 793. Under that law, what Hillary did would ground criminal prosecution if her acts were the result of “gross negligence.” Strzok wanted to avoid publishing a report about his idol which essentially said, “Clinton committed criminal violations of 18 U.S.C. § 793.”

What does “negligent” mean? It means “careless.” If you have a duty to exercise care, and you choose not to, you’re negligent.

What does “gross” mean, in legal terms? It means extreme. There is no real difference between “gross” and “extreme.” If I lend my car to someone I know has had 4 beers, I’m negligent. If I lend it to someone who has been smoking PCP all night and has a bag of hand grenades slung over his shoulder, I am grossly negligent.

Add it up, and you get this: “extremely careless” equals “grossly negligent,” but “gross negligence” is a phrase used in a statute Hillary Clinton violated, and “extreme carelessness” isn’t. Strzok chose to say something legally damaging–he had no choice about that–in a way that would smell less like fresh meat.

When Peter Strzok says Clinton was “extremely careless,” he’s like a criminal attorney who says his client is “fully culpable” for a murder while rejecting the word “guilty.” It’s a choice of words that sounds different but means the same thing.

Jim Comey determined that Hillary Clinton was grossly negligent, and an FBI agent who supported her bid for the presidency disguised his conclusion. This happened in July of 2016, at a time when Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president was in full swing.

Extreme carelessness is gross negligence.

That’s what I wanted to say.