Today several news organizations, including The New York Times, have reported, “In a letter to Congress, the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said that emails had surfaced in an unrelated case, and that they ‘appear to be pertinent to the investigation.'”
Comey’s letter went on to say that the F.B.I. was taking steps to “‘determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.’” Comey said he did not know how long it would take to review the emails, or whether the new information was significant.”
Also on Friday, The New York Times and other media organizations reported that the “unrelated case” Comey’s letter referred to was the FBI investigation of Anthony Weiner’s sexting with a 15-year-old girl.
So, at this point on Oct. 28, what do we know?
- Emails were discovered that may or may not be significant. The F.B.I. does not know if the new information is significant.
- Were the emails written by Hillary Clinton? The F.B.I. does not say.
- Is the information in the emails significant? The F.B.I. does not know.
This is like saying, “The U.N. may be bombed sometime in the next 100 years, but we don’t know.” While it’s true that the U.N. may be bombed, no news organization would report such a “maybe” as if it were factual or known.
Saying that the F.B.I. has found emails that appear to be pertinent to an investigation (that was not formally closed), but that may turn out not to be pertinent or important is like saying, “My doctor found a spot on my shoulder that may or may not be significant.” It does not make sense to sound alarms and scream “catastrophe!!!” when in fact no one knows whether what has been found is significant or important.
Remember, the F.B.I. is not “reopening” a closed investigation because of some specific event. Comey is adding to his testimony to Congress while the bureau examines new material that may — or may not — have implications for conclusions the investigation reached, and which Comey announced to Congress in July.
I do not understand why CNN, Fox News, and all other news media are reacting as if this is something significant.
The fact is that no one, including the F.B.I., knows whether or not what has been found is significant. Comey said this explicitly in his letter. It is one of very few things that he said explicitly in his vague and opaque letter.
That so many news organizations are treating this “news” as if it spells the end of the Clinton campaign — or treating it as “news” at all — is incomprehensible. Many people would call the histrionics by news organizations about this event highly irresponsible.