Hours after FBI Director James Comey announced that there would be no recommendation for an indictment of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton over the e-mail scandal, a Rasmussen Reports survey revealed that a whopping 81 percent of likely U.S. voters “believe powerful people get preferential treatment when they break the law.”
That much was underscored by a piece in the Wall Street Journal that was bluntly headlined, “Laws Are for Little People.”
“To be clear,” Comey said Tuesday, “this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions. But that is not what we are deciding now.”
“In other words,” writes WSJ columnist James Taranto in reaction, “laws are for little people.”
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump quickly said the system was rigged, and he has company. The Rasmussen poll found that 79 percent of Republicans, 63 percent of independents and even 25 percent of Democrats disagree with Comey’s decision.
Rasmussen Reports said the survey was taken from 1,000 likely voters Tuesday evening with a +/- sampling error of 3 percentage points.
Despite evidence that Clinton and surrogates “were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information,” Comey shocked the country. Rasmussen Reports said Wednesday that 54 percent of voters think the FBI should have sought a criminal indictment a Clinton over the e-mail scandal that has dogged the Democrat for a year.
The survey was taken just hours after Comey’s announcement Tuesday. The fallout could be lengthy and both Comey and Attorney General Loretta Lynch are now scheduled to testify before a Congressional committee.
Fox News is reporting that Comey will testify Thursday before before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Lynch will reportedly testify before the same committee next Tuesday, Fox News reported.
Fox quoted Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), who called Comey’s recommendation “surprising and confusing.”
“The fact pattern presented by Director Comey makes clear Secretary Clinton violated the law,” Chaffetz said. “Individuals who intentionally skirt the law must be held accountable. Congress and the American people have a right to understand the depth and breadth of the FBI’s investigation.”
An Associated Press “Fact Check” story published in Wednesday’s Seattle Times details a series of conflicting statements made by Clinton regarding her e-mails and what the FBI investigation uncovered.
The Rasmussen survey also showed Democrats’ faithfulness to their presumptive nominee despite revelations of her carelessness. According to Rasmussen, 64 percent of Democrats agree with the FBI’s decision. Wednesday’s story from Rasmussen recalled that back in May, 71 percent of Democrats said Clinton should continue running even if she had been indicted.
