When it was first hinted that Hillary Clinton may have used a private email server to communicate government business, her fans denied it, and her critics pounced on yet another opportunity to bash one of the most hated politicians in modern American history.
Clinton, for her part, followed the typical political reaction in cases of this nature. First, she denied that it happened, then she said it wasn’t nearly as many as expected. Then, only after it was revealed she had aides destroy or delete key evidence in the case, did Clinton come out and formally apologize for her “mistake.”
But, of course, the case would not die. Next came the reports that maybe she did send and receive classified emails after all. As supporters said “no way” detractors had a field day with each successive revelation.
It got to the point that even Clinton’s primary rival Bernie Sanders said he was done talking about those emails. He didn’t want to hear about it anymore, and it’s certain that Democratic supporters wanted to be done talking about it. But the conservative media and GOP voters were just getting warmed up. For months, the emails were just about the only thing Republicans wanted to talk about in the Presidential race. When someone brought up Donald Trump’s latest gaffes, the go-to response was to appeal directly to what was dubbed the “un-prosecuted” criminal actions of Hillary Clinton.
Even after the FBI said they would not prosecute Clinton, the email controversy continued to build. One side calling for justice, the other just wishing it would all go away. But it didn’t go away, and now, just before the elections, FBI Director James Comey has issued an announcement saying his agency would be investigating new emails that had just been uncovered.
The announcement said that Comey would be looking into the mishandling of classified information by both Clinton and her aides. Conservatives exulted in the media and online. Radio guys cheered, social media gloated, and the entire country braced itself for yet another “scandal” that probably won’t go anywhere.
But until then, the headlines will surely be filled with news that the FBI is investigating, combing through or otherwise perusing this “new” information. And, of course, conspiracy theorists will posit that they really had this all along.
But the most salient piece of information in the announcement: Comey said he doesn’t know how long it will take his agency to conduct the investigation. Smart money in on at least two weeks.
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