Can the US political system survive this farcical presidential election?
Kevin Rafferty says an ugly campaign just got uglier with the latest FBI bombshell on Clinton’s emails, signalling fractious times ahead no matter who wins
Policies and government risk being buried in volcanic explosions of personal politics. Illustration: Ingo Fast
FBI director James Comey broke all precedent and threw a bombshell in the final stages of the US presidential election campaign, revealing that emails possibly involving Hillary Clinton were under investigation.
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It’s not clear whether this is a stink bomb, smelly and messy but harmless; or a ticking time bomb that may blow up in Clinton’s face, or Comey’s; or worse, something with the potential to devastate the US political system.
FBI director James Comey has revealed that a new batch of Hillary Clinton’s emails is under investigation, in the endgame of the 2016 presidential campaign. Photo: AP
American “democracy” – and I think it legitimately goes within quotation marks questioning it – has become a laughing stock, given the antics of politicians of all parties in Congress, in the presidential primaries and, most of all, in the verbal slugfest known as the debates between Clinton and her Republican rival, Donald Trump. The bigger issue is that the place and reputation of the US in the world is at stake.
Comey’s statement about the discovery of a fresh trove of emails came just 11 days before most Americans vote next week. It went against the precedent that law officials do not intervene within 60 days of an election. And it was not as if the FBI had discovered a smoking gun. On the contrary: Comey reported that the emails were discovered in a separate investigation. Subsequent leaks said the emails, which may number in the hundreds of thousands, were on a computer of Anthony Weiner, estranged husband of Clinton’s closest aide Huma Abedin. Weiner is being investigated for a quite separate charge of sexting an underage girl. Comey added that the FBI did not yet know the significance of the emails.
Supporters cheer at a campaign rally for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on November 1. Photo: AFP
So why go public, especially when law enforcement agencies normally keep things secret until ready to bring charges? The emails may not be connected directly to Clinton or may be duplicates of those already checked by the FBI.
