FBI does its job. Hillary Clinton not guilty

By Richard Mellor

AFSCME Local 444, retired

Member Green Party USA

So the FBI announces that the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Hillary Clinton is not guilty of any “criminal” misconduct with regard to her use of a private e mail server during her term as Secretary of State.

FBI director James Comey, while extremely critical of Clinton’s “reckless and careless” behavior says he is not recommending charges be filed against Clinton. He said they found no evidence of “willful or intentional” breaches of the rules, “vast quantities” of data or “indications of disloyalty or efforts to obstruct justice”.

This comes on the heels of a controversial chat Bill Clinton had with Attorney General Loretta Lynch as they crossed paths at Phoenix airport.

This should come as no surprise if we look closely at the objective situation in which these events are taking place. There is no doubt that there is a political crisis in the US. The Republican Party is in disarray to the point that the racist demagogue Trump is having a hard time getting speakers for the convention. The Democratic Party has also had its share of turmoil with the rise and popularity of the populist Bernie Sanders who has managed to tap in to the anger that exists beneath the surface of US society.

Though I have argued for a while that Clinton would be the Democratic nominee and the next President, I have to confess that I was never overly confident about it, always aware that something could crop up in this volatile climate. But with the Sanders campaign coming to an end and the Bernmeister likely being satisfied with some concessions with regard to the party platform and announcing he will vote for Clinton, the deal has been struck.

After Loretta Lynch met with Bill Clinton and then announcing she would not, as Attorney General, challenge the decision of the FBI with regard to Hillary’s e mail usage, it became clear that Clinton would sail in.

While US capitalism is in an ongoing economic and consequently political crisis, the bourgeois still rules, are still the ruling class. We saw over the past months that while there are divisions between them on how best to govern society and keep the business of profit taking going, they are not fussy about who is at the helm. Obama was very good for them. And they know Hillary Clinton will be. Numerous right wing bourgeois, misogynists many of them, made it clear that Hillary was or could be their choice in this situation. They are very well aware that Trump won’t be good for business.

Many workers are disappointed with the FBI’s findings but there was no way the ruling class in this country was going to allow their best, and at this point only choice for president, be indicted on criminal charges. We read all over the Internet how corrupt, or criminal the FBI is for arriving at this conclusion.

Well, the FBI, and the CIA are corrupt, criminal organizations, but that’s not the main issue.  The FBI is an organ of government or what we political types tend to call, the state apparatus.  Under these circumstances, the power in society, the unelected few thousand people who all sit on the boards of major corporations and think tanks were not going to allow the best choice of president at this point in time face criminal charges.  To do so would have further exacerbated the economic and political crisis. Apart from the FBI being a government agency, an arm of the state, the state itself is, as Marx pointed out, is a committee that represents the interests of the capitalist class as a whole. The state will take issue with individual capitalists that threaten the interests of the class as a whole and of course with workers at all times.

Having said all that, there are conspiracies and there are sections of the ruling class that are mavericks if you like or don’t consider the interests of the class as a whole just like workers who undermine our class solidarity.  A major terrorist attack on US soil or an assassination or other such event would throw a spanner in the works. Most likely we would see Clinton’s strong points emerge then, she’s a ruthless representative of her class.

Meanwhile, the ruling class is beginning to unite around her as the best choice for them in November. The FBI’s decision should be no surprise to anyone, but it’s not a corrupt decision; it’s a conscious class based result.