By Tom Fitton | Fox News
Nixon resigned 42 years ago, but Baker’s words have lived on in Washington, because the impulse to conceal a misdeed is shared by politicians of every persuasion, including Hillary Clinton, who is now running for the office Nixon vacated.
One irony has not been missed: In her first major job out of law school, Hillary Clinton joined the special committee, of which Baker was ranking minority member, investigating Nixon. And more irony: Bill Clinton, who turned that job down, would eventually become president and beimpeached himself.
So universal among the powerful is this instinct to conceal a misdeed that there is ataxonomy of the process: the initial responses to an allegation, the withholding or tampering with evidence, the delayed response, the intimidation of whispers, and the damage control.
The current investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state reminds us of a truism in these matters: Politicians never seem to learn. We can look at her current troubles through the lens of Watergate to understand what to expect with any politician stepping over the line:
1. Listen to their language. The Watergate is a hotel in Washington where Nixon operatives broke in to steal campaign information from the Democratic Party. Nixon’s people subsequently described that act as a “third-rate burglary.” In the same manner, Clinton has described the FBI investigation of her email escapades as “a security review.” FBI Director James Comey scoffed at that description.
2. Remedies are available. Chief among these is the Freedom of Information Act, which became law in 1966, but it was only after Watergate, in 1974, that Congress gave the law some teeth. The organization I head, Judicial Watch, uses this law all the time to peel back the onion on government secrecy. We have filed nearly 4,000 FOIA requests in the past ten years. Regarding Clinton’s emails, to date, we have filed 50 requests and have 18 lawsuits that are currently active because our requests were rebuffed.
Judges take a keen interest in how this law is working. For example, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan granted us “discovery” into Clinton’s email system. The order allows us to take testimony from former top Clinton State Department aides Cheryl Mills, Huma Abedin and Bryan Pagliano. The court also notes that “based on information learned during discovery, the deposition of Mrs. Clinton may be necessary.”
A second federal judge also granted us “limited discovery” into the Clinton email matter. U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that “where there is evidence of government wrong-doing and bad faith, as here, limited discovery is appropriate, even though it is exceedingly rare in FOIA cases.”
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I think it is just another smoke-and-mirror witch hunt.