If anyone was wondering how they would handle the news over on Fox that FBI Director James Comey once again threw cold water on the notion that Hillary Clinton is about to be indicted at any moment over her email server, well, here you go.
Town Hall contributor and Fox regular Katie Pavlich celebrated the fact that a lot of the damage is already done, and told Democrat Jessica Ehrlich that it wouldn't matter what Comey said or how close to the election he said it, because a lot of voters believe she ought to be convicted of something.
Ehrlich, to her credit reminded her that that's not how things work in the United States and we don't prosecute people based on public opinion.
Rough transcript below:
EHRLICH: Well, unfortunately I think that the damage has been done in a lot of ways other the last week of speculation of, you know, Trump obviously using this over and over to reinforce his message that Hillary should be in jail. So I think what happened was it dampened a lot of people who now -- this is the last day for early voting in many states including here in Florida. And it's dampened voter enthusiasm, because they were like, oh gosh, you know, there already has been that issue of do people trust Hillary, don't they? And so for people who were independent or on the border in terms of whether or not they would vote for her, vote for Trump or stay home, a lot of people I think have been staying home in that sense. (crosstalk)
HEMMER: Well, if that is the case -- hang on, Jess. You're talking about three, four, five hours maybe depending on the time zone you're into get this news and digest it. It seems to me like it's baked in one way are the other.
EHRLICH: I think already people have stayed home if they're going to do early voting. They're either going to have to change their mind at get out and vote on election day or, you know, the damage has already been done in that sense to what we've already been there. I think and I thought before that this was a nothing burger and it was exactly that and I think that's what this letter shows today. I'm not someone who believes in conspiracy theories or things like that, however it has been talked repeatedly over and over and even by Rudy Giuliani himself about how internally in the FBI there are people who are very against Clinton, are very pro-Trump and U think this plays in to that message and it will not be --
HEMMER: Or perhaps they see -- hang on. Or perhaps they see the evidence differently. Katie, you want to jump in? Go.
PAVLICH: The idea that just because there isn't an indictment then this is a nothing burger is absurd. We have plenty of evidence through WikiKeaks, through even the FBI's own reports on their investigation that Hillary Clinton herself put national security of the United States below the priority of her open privacy and what she called convenience to evade freedom of information act laws, and going around the policies of the State Department and Obama Administration had for e-mail practices.
This wasn't about James Comey jumping into the election or having an effect in the last week. This was about Hillary Clinton in the beginning being responsible for making the decision to set up a private server. She did to herself. It's unfortunate for her that it came out a week before the election, but it would have been avoided avoided if she just followed the rules. And if people don't like her as a result of the server and think that she's a liar, they're going to continue to think that going into election day. This doesn't change anything whether it would have come out a week ago or come out in July.
HEMMER: Yeah. Do you think Trump says anything about this now? Because you have to remember that the way that she and leading Democrats went after Comey in a big way last week.
PAVLICH: I think that Trump would do well not to go after James Comey, and changing, going a 180 on that, but I think he will continue to bring this up. Because let's not forget, when the announcement was made in July, the initial announcement, the majority of country believed that she should be indicted including Democrats. And so, people still believe according to polling just released this week that she committed a crime. And the evidence is clear, and the feeling is that the Clinton again after decades are above the law and that they're never held accountable for anything. (crosstalk)
EHRLICH: That is absolutely absurd. I don't know what polling you're referring to. I don't know what percentage of Democrats you're talking about. I think that is insane. First of all (crosstalk) I find it really unfortunate that you would say as a journalistic perspective that we make decisions about prosecutions based on public opinion. That is not how our justice system (crosstalk). I think that's very important in this matter and in our country going forward.
PAVLICH: As do I.
EHRLICH: It's important in this election. We do not -- you can make a political decision based on something. You can make a political decision unfortunately even based on lies, which is what is happening over and over here. But you do not make prosecutorial decisions based on public opinion.
PAVLICH: No one is arguing that.
ERHLICH: You make them on facts and evidence. That's the opposite of what you just said.
