For the good of the country and the Democratic Party—and, frankly, in the interest of justice—the FBI needs to act on its investigation of Hillary Clinton within the next four months.
The Democratic National Convention will be held in Philadelphia the last week of July, a little over four months away.
If the FBI decides to recommend that the Justice Department indict Clinton over her emails and callous disregard for national security, the country and the Democrats need to know that before the convention—and the sooner the better.
True, Democrats haven’t shown much concern about the issue so far, but an FBI recommendation for indictment, coming from the Obama Justice Department, would have to be taken seriously and the electoral implications weighed.
That way, Democratic convention delegates can choose whether to (1) make Clinton the Democratic nominee knowing full well that a grand jury might indict her; (2) reject her and nominate Bernie Sanders, who has won a number of delegates and clearly has supporters; or (3) choose a third option, such as turning to Vice President Joe Biden or, perhaps more likely, trying to draft Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
If the FBI were to recommend indictment after the Democratic convention, it would be too late to replace Clinton on the ticket. Plus, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, as head of the Justice Department, could argue that moving to a grand jury that late in the process would politicize the presidential campaign, thus giving Hillary a pass…yet again.
Of course, it’s anybody’s guess how long it would take to move Clinton’s case from a grand jury indictment to a trial—perhaps years. But if she were elected president in the meantime, she would be the first president to pardon herself.
It appears the FBI investigation is making progress. Just last week the Justice Department granted immunity to Bryan Pagliano, a former State Department and 2008 Clinton campaign worker who apparently helped set up her private email server.
The FBI doesn’t grant immunity to just anyone. The agency must think Pagliano has critical information to share, and would have demanded at least a sample of that information before granting immunity. It may be the best indication yet that the FBI believes there was criminal activity involved, though by whom and for what purpose is still unclear.
But time is growing short. It would be extremely divisive to wait until right before the presidential election to make a recommendation for indictment. The FBI needs to act so that Democrats, and the public, can take the appropriate steps.