In an interview with USA Today on Wednesday, reporter Susan Page described Pelosi as “combative and confident” during the exchange that covered a handful of topics, including the FBI’s decision to not recommend charges against Clinton.
Page writes Pelosi was “mocking Republicans for promising another ‘investigation of an investigation of an investigation’ into the agency’s recommendation not to pursue criminal charges.” Evidently, the next “investigation” she refers to is the House Oversight Committee’s decision to call FBI Director James Comey to testify about his decision on Thursday. Pelosi apparently also called this decision “subterfuge” and “a waste of the taxpayers’ dollars,” according to the report.
Page’s characterization of Pelosi and the fact that she did not press harder on this issue sort of speaks for itself, but we’ll leave the media analysis to another website.
Pelosi’s remarks clearly reveal she is very worried that the email issue is not going away soon enough. In fact, she basically said as much by telling Page, “[Director Comey] said there’s not enough here to prosecute anything. I think that’s that.”
Director Comey might have the final say on whether to recommend criminal charges in the case, but that does not mean the issue is going away any time soon.
The Oversight Committee’s decision to call Director Comey to testify on Thursday can hardly be characterized as another “investigation.” Congressional oversight over executive branch agencies, including the FBI, is central to our system of checks and balances. Given the bi-partisan confusion surrounding the announcement on Tuesday, one might think both parties would be more than happy to question Director Comey further about his decision.
But not Pelosi, who in a moment of accidental honesty revealed her true feelings.
“People can nip at [Clinton’s] heels all they want,” Pelosi told USA Today. “She’s going to be president of the United States and she’s going to be a great president of the United States and that’s why they (Republicans) can never take ‘no’ for an answer. The FBI director said ‘no.’”
Yes, the FBI Director said “no” to recommending criminal charges. But now the American people, through their elected representatives, get to find out the reason(s) “why.”