# Ryan and the congressional Republicans to investigate the FBI. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 6, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229 "2016-07-06T16:23:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/101 "2016-07-10T06:51:33Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Perjury requires a deliberate lie doesn’t it? She should ask her husband. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/102 "2016-07-10T12:43:18Z")
The Republican Anti-Clinton strategy. Relentlessly ask questions, lots and lots of questions, ad infinitum, eventually they’ll fuck one of them up. (It would actually work with any politician, but the strategy is only ever applied to those named Clinton.) ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/103 "2016-07-10T14:02:33Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > She should ask her husband. Oh, he’s running again? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/104 "2016-07-10T14:16:51Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > The Republican Anti-Clinton strategy. Relentlessly ask questions, lots and lots of questions, ad infinitum, eventually they’ll fuck one of them up. And, in the process, fool a number of people into thinking “They \*must \*be corrupt and contemptible; just look at all the investigations!” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/105 "2016-07-10T16:57:53Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > And, in the process, fool a number of people into thinking “They \*must \*be corrupt and contemptible; just look at all the investigations!” Unfortunately, the Clintons give them the hooks to grab on to. Corrupt I expect to some degree, though no more than with any others of the general run of politicians. Contemptible is far more applicable to their detractors, though. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/106 "2016-07-11T09:45:46Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > “…he couldn’t prove that she was guilty of a crime”. That’ll do. > [@CarnalK](#): > > Not exactly a “Hope and Change” slogan but I guess beggars can’t be choosers. Depends on where your goalposts are. If the Republicans were arguing “Hillary Clinton make bad decisions” it would have some traction (or would in an election year that didn’t feature Donald Trump) but they’re clinging desperately to “Hillary Clinton is a criminal who should be in jail” which, in the face of Comey’s “Nope!”, is a fucking stupid line to continue to take. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/107 "2016-07-11T13:31:45Z")
[Story in the Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/11/poll-most-disapprove-of-fbi-decision-to-exonerate-clinton/) about public reaction to the whole event. 56% feel that Clinton should have faced charges. However, 60% of overall respondents said this doesn’t impact their vote and, naturally, most of the “This is terrible and impacts my decision” responses come from Republicans who were inclined to vote for Trump anyway. The total impact would appear to be a wash: > [@](#): > > Registered voters who oppose the decision to forego criminal charges are nonetheless split on whether the outcome makes them less likely to vote Clinton in November — 47 percent say it makes no difference in their vote while 45 percent say they’re less likely to support her (8 percent say they’re more likely to do so). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/108 "2016-07-11T14:02:29Z")
So, 8% say “I LIKE that she’s evasive and unprofessional!”… ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/109 "2016-07-11T14:15:48Z")
> [@digs](#): > > So, 8% say “I LIKE that she’s evasive and unprofessional!”… Well, 8% of the 56% who said she should have faced charges. But, yeah, still weird. Unfortunately, the poll linked in the article lacks any crosstabs for public consumption. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/110 "2016-07-11T14:23:11Z")
I think it means that there are an actual 8% of people out there who _look at evidence, and when it contradicts their beliefs, they actually **change their mind** _. Freaks. Who the hell bothers with performing a rational review of evidence in an effort to come to a conclusion nowadays? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/111 "2016-07-11T14:37:35Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I think it means that there are an actual 8% of people out there who _look at evidence, and when it contradicts their beliefs, they actually **change their mind** _. It’s 8% of the 56% who were opposed to the decision not to bring an indictment. So about 4.5% of the respondents said “Comey should have charged Clinton, but he didn’t and I think that’s wrong – which makes me more likely to vote Clinton”. If the evidence of the case had changed their mind, they shouldn’t be responding that they’re opposed to Comey not recommending indictment. ---
**Author:** ![UberArchetype](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/2bfe46/32.png) [@UberArchetype](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UberArchetype)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/112 "2016-07-11T14:49:17Z")
Does anyone believe BillC’s tarmac Lynch meeting was not the culmination of calling in every political favor he was owed in this life and the next? On what planet does the email server fiasco NOT result in criminal charges? For at least SOMEBODY? Only a fool could not have their most fundamental beliefs in this nation’s justice system shaken pondering these questions. I hope most people realize this, but some members of the elite really ARE above the law. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/113 "2016-07-11T14:58:19Z")
There’s been numerous words already written about how this style of case is rarely prosecuted and other comparison cases have exceptional circumstances such as lying during FBI interviews, destruction of evidence following the interview or clear intent to disseminate the classified information. So, no, it does not strike me as unusual that Clinton was not indicted. It would be more unusual if she was. You can argue that this case _deserved_ an unusual outcome but not that anyone else would have faced charges based on past history. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/114 "2016-07-11T15:00:17Z")
> [@UberArchetype](#): > > Does anyone believe BillC’s tarmac Lynch meeting was not the culmination of calling in every political favor he was owed in this life and the next? > > **On what planet does the email server fiasco NOT result in criminal charges? For at least SOMEBODY?** > > Only a fool could not have their most fundamental beliefs in this nation’s justice system shaken pondering these questions. I hope most people realize this, but some members of the elite really ARE above the law. Obviously, not this planet. Did you even hear or read [Comey’s statement](https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/statement-by-fbi-director-james-b.-comey-on-the-investigation-of-secretary-hillary-clintons-use-of-a-personal-e-mail-system)? He made it _very_ clear why charges weren’t recommended. why don’t you explain why charges should be brought? Hopefully, you can cite previous cases. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/115 "2016-07-11T15:00:45Z")
Any chance of getting the FBI to investigate Congressional Republicans? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/116 "2016-07-11T15:06:28Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Any chance of getting the FBI to investigate Congressional Republicans? After all the insinuations of bribery, it would take a man of integrity to _not_ crawl up a few Congressional asses. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/117 "2016-07-11T15:11:05Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > It’s 8% of the 56% who were opposed to the decision not to bring an indictment. So about 4.5% of the respondents said “Comey should have charged Clinton, but he didn’t and I think that’s wrong – which makes me more likely to vote Clinton”. > > If the evidence of the case had changed their mind, they shouldn’t be responding that they’re opposed to Comey not recommending indictment. I think the disconnect we are having is that, regardless of the poll questions, this is not happening in a vacuum, with nothing else impacting the people’s decision to vote for Hillary. There are a certain contingent of people who will vote against Trump no matter what, and if that means that they have to vote for Hillary, well, they’ll vote for Hillary. All this did was fix it in their minds that “well, that’s that. The Dems will nominate her and I have to vote for her even though I might think that she’s guilty and should be indicted. At least I can use Comey’s statement to rationalize my position.” So, yeah, I can see people coming to the “I think she’s guilty but I’m still voting for her because, GOD, the other guy” conclusion pretty rationally. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/118 "2016-07-11T16:39:59Z")
Also, a certain percentage of the population are just plain nuts. 4.5% seems low, frankly. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/119 "2016-07-11T17:14:45Z")
> [@UberArchetype](#): > > Does anyone believe BillC’s tarmac Lynch meeting was not the culmination of calling in every political favor he was owed in this life and the next? So according to you, Ms. Lynch owed Mr. Clinton a political favor of some sort. When and how was this debt incurred? Also, what magic words do you believe Mr. Clinton said to Ms. Lynch to get her to say “I’ll go with whatever the FBI Director recommends”, and what magic words did Ms. Lynch say to the FBI Director to ensure that he would not recommend indictment? I presume you will provide some sort of evidence to back up whatever you happen to assert regarding the above. ---
**Author:** ![UberArchetype](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/2bfe46/32.png) [@UberArchetype](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UberArchetype)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229/120 "2016-07-11T17:20:50Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I presume you will provide some sort of evidence to back up whatever you happen to assert regarding the above. Sorry, but I’ll just leave you and your ilk to wallow in the bright light of justice and political correctness Ms. Lynch and Mr. Comey have bestowed upon you and yours. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ryan-and-the-congressional-republicans-to-investigate-the-fbi/759229.md?page=7)