of allegiance is not an oath of secrecy , ” he told Bart Gellman . “ That is an oath to the Constitution . That is the oath that I kept that Keith Alexander and James Clapper did not . ” Let ’s assume that Snowden is right that his oath to the Constitution trumps his employment agreement secrecy duties ( but see here ; cf .
In passing , from the public record it is not clear that Secretary Clinton was given the oath before a properly constituted committee , which would require a quorum . Chairman Trey Gowdy mentioned in his opening remarks that Secretary Clinton had already been sworn . Later ( and sparse ) press coverage indicates that as a courtesy to Secretary Clinton , she was given the oathcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastprivately . Whether she was properly placed under oath , as well as whether the statements the Republicans are calling into question are material , will be set aside for purposes of my discussion , for two reasons . First , these are technicalities and it is clear from the record that she did not lie to the committee , so the technicalities of perjury can be passed over , and secondly because Secretary Clinton is also charged with violation of the false statement statute , which does not require an oath , and some of the other niceties of perjury , I will keep the focus on the truthfulness of her testimony .
I think he did a lot more harm than good . Let me say a few more words about this . Snowden has long claimed that he took an oath to “ support and defend the Constitution ” ( see here and here ) , and he has implied that he was fulfilling this oathcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastwhen he stole and distributed the documents . “ The oath of allegiance is not an oath of secrecy , ” he told Bart Gellman . “ That is an oath to the Constitution .
Significantly , Comey made no mention of this malfeasance during his announcement and limited his conclusions and recommendations to the email probe . Chairman Jason Chaffetz ( R - UT ) of the House Oversight Committee asked Comey directly whether such an investigation was ongoing and Comey refused to issue comment “ on the existence or nonexistence of any other ongoing investigations , ” leaving the door open to the possibility that this aspect is still actively being pursued . Clinton also faces the potential for perjury charges for lying under oathcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastto Congress . Chaffets made this clear during another remarkable exchange with Comey . During her testimony to the House Select Committee on Benghazi , Clinton falsely testified that “ there was nothing marked classified on my emails either sent or received . ” Comey however , indicated otherwise prompting Chaffets to note that Congress would be submitting a perjury referral to the FBI .
She lied about having destroyed government emails , about having exposed classified U.S. government secrets to Russia , China and other hostile nations through an unsecured server in her own basement that , according to U.S. intelligence experts , almost certainly led to the outing of covert CIA operatives . She lied to the parents of murdered Americans in the terror attack at Benghazi , Libya , about the cause of their death , and her role in their death . She lied under oathcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastwhen testifying to Congress , and she lied about FBI Director James Comey ’s public indictment of her lies , which he delivered to the nation . Her lies are nothing new and they are legion . Hillary Clinton is a “ congenital liar , ” in the words of famed New York Times columnist William Safire , whose 1996 essay , “ Blizzard of Lies , ” explains that she lies “ for good reason : To admit otherwise would be to confess taking , and paying taxes on , what some think amounted to a $ 100,000 bribe ” allegedly arranged through some very suspicious - looking cattle - futures trades .
Livesey is now writing for a little - known West Coast blog . In his recent piece , Livesey started by attacking me ( though we are in part on the same side in the issue disputed ) and says that Random House , his publisher and mine , has spent a lot of money defending my libel suit against him , “ which has gone nowhere . ” I had to wait for more important litigation to be resolved to get all the way down to Livesey ’s tawdry malignancies , and if Random House has paid more than $ 5,000 on this account , it has been fleeced . But I can assure Livesey that his day of reckoning will come : a long and intense session under oathcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastin penetrating cross - examination over his malicious falsehoods . He will be less chipper after that character - building experience . National Post
Before looking at Secretary Clinton ’s testimony , and that of Director Comey which Republicans claim puts the lie to Mrs. Clinton , a brief review of these statutes ( in a nutshell without citations ) may be helpful . The Perjury and False Statements Statutes Perjury is set forth in Title 18 of the U.S. Code , section 1621 : “ Whoever having taken an oath before a competent tribunal , officer , or person , in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oathcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastto be administered , that he will testify , declare , depose , or certify truly , or that any written testimony , declaration , deposition , or certificate by him subscribed , is true , willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe to be true … is guilty of perjury . ” Punishment for perjury calls for a fine and/or up to five years’ imprisonment . Stated a bit differently , the elements of perjury that would apply in Secretary Clinton ’s situation are ( 1 ) knowingly and willfully making a ( 2 ) false ( 3 ) material declaration ( 4 ) under oath ( 5 ) before a properly constituted proceeding of Congress . The essence of the crime is the willful untruth of a material statement made when under oath .
At the National Tracing Center , they figured out where the guns came from , as well as who bought them — the slain assailants . Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife , Tashfeen Malik , had purchased the handguns legally between three and eight years previously at Annie 's Get Your Gun , an FFL in Corona , California . Farook and Malik were discovered to have posted an oathcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastof allegiance to the Islamic State on Facebook just before the attack began . But what about the assault rifles — they were still a mystery . Turned out a former neighbor , Enrique Marquez , bought those during the same time period .
So - called liberals and “ progressives ” have caught the Mad Democratic Cow Disease , frothing at the mouth at those who would resist the coronation of the corporate warmonger , Hillary Clinton . They flail with McCarthyite fury at both Donald Trump and the Green Party presidential ticket of Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka . “ Liberals are now quite deranged and applaud a woman who will crush their feeble agenda as soon as she says the oathcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastof office . ” Freedom Rider : Liberal Hate for Stein and Baraka by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
FBI director James Comey would not comment Thursday when asked directly by Congress , under oathcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcast, whether his department is still investigating Hillary Clinton in connection with possible corruption related to the Clinton Foundation . Comey had announced Tuesday that he would not recommend prosecuting Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified information , despite the fact that her behavior was “ extremely careless . ” advertisement
It applies to all statements , written and oral , sworn and unsworn , voluntarily given or required by law . The core of the offense is a false representation , or concealment , by willful non - disclosure , of a material fact through a “ trick , scheme , or device . ” While similar to perjury , a false statement under this statute is broader . In addition to not requiring the statement be made under oathcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcast, it does not require two witnesses , or one witness with corroboration . Clearly , both statutes criminalize lies ( intentional and knowing false statements ) before a committee of Congress . The hard evidence , however , shows that Hillary Clinton did not lie , rather those charging her have distorted her testimony , or claimed she had information she simply did not have at the time she testified .
The files also include the FBI ’s forensic investigative process and never - before - seen details of the staff decisions that led to the server , the mechanics of Clinton ’s email system , and the confusing and balky State Department processes that led a technophobic Clinton to embrace her own BlackBerry . The FBI interviewed both those who supported her and those who questioned her decisions , as well as plenty of disinterested public servants who had no allegiance or beef with her either way . While the interviews were not technically conducted “ under oathcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcast” — lying to federal agents is itself a crime , as is obstruction of justice — they do open a uniquely candid window into how the decisions around Hillary Clinton ’s email server unfolded . They may be as close to the actual truth as we may ever get . The interviews — taken together and reconstructed for this article into the first - ever comprehensive narrative of how her email server scandal unfolded — draw a picture of the controversy quite different from what either side has made it out to be .
He awarded them $ 325,415 in damages . But in case after case , Mr. Trump has displayed a special talent for turning what should be cold hard facts into semantic mush . Perhaps the most famous example of this skill came when Mr. Trump was asked under oathcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcasta seemingly straightforward question : Had he ever lied about his net worth ? Mr. Trump responded , “ My net worth fluctuates and it goes up and down with markets and with attitudes and with feelings , even my own feelings . ” So , he explained in a deposition , when he said membership costs $ 300,000 to his Westchester golf club , that included the $ 200,000 initiation fee plus every cent he guessed that a member might spend on annual dues over the next 20 or 30 years .
Photos : Hillary Clinton 's life in the spotlight During the 1992 presidential campaign , Clinton jokes with her husband 's running mate , Al Gore , and Gore 's wife , Tipper , aboard a campaign bus . Hide Caption 9 of 43 Photos : Hillary Clinton 's life in the spotlight Clinton accompanies her husband as he takes the oathcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcastof office in January 1993 . Hide Caption 10 of 43 Photos : Hillary Clinton 's life in the spotlight The Clintons share a laugh on Capitol Hill in 1993 .
Debate officials said no . ] The emails show that Kendall and Podesta discussed the matter by phone that evening . The next day , Kendall forwarded Podesta a series of documents showing that Broaddrick had previously denied the rape allegation under oathcontact.commitmentpromiseexpressintent.broadcast. Donald Trump held a news conference ahead of the second presidential debate on Oct. 9 with four women who have made allegations in the past against Bill and Hillary Clinton . The Washington Post ’s Glenn Kessler explains those allegations .