Leverage on POTUS

I was reading this WSJ piece earlier today, and aside from the main issue addressed by the author, one paragraph has been needling me all day.

Here it is:

The Cold Clinton Reality: Why isn’t the IRS investigating the Clinton Foundation?

We don’t applaud WikiLeaks or the theft of information, and these hacks deserve a firm U.S. government response. But the emails are public and they will confirm for many Americans their worst suspicions about the people who run their government.

It’s also worth noting that in the vast digital trove of Mr. Podesta’s stolen emails we haven’t noticed emails from Mrs. Clinton. Perhaps they don’t exist. But American voters shouldn’t worry merely about the emails released before the election. What emails or memos exist that these hackers, Russian or not, could be withholding for leverage after the election with another President Clinton?

In truth, I have been suspicious of claims that the wikileaks are the work of the Russians for a variety of reasons. But the fact that very few, if any, of Clinton's emails have been leaked is a worrisome data point.

Think about that for a moment. Let that really sink in.

Imagine a scenario where we have a POTUS controlled by the threat of exposure.

Food for thought. While it sounds like an episode of Black Mirror, I can't think of anything more disqualifying than the prospect of a potential president being vulnerable to blackmail.

Just wow.

...which is exactly why laws have been enacted to combat corruption. Conflicts of interest are taboo to politicians... or should be. The Clintons view this government as their private cash cow... however... you reap what you sow...

Thanks for the link, but it's paywalled. You can't get in if you don't pay for a subscription.

a reply to: schuyler

Sorry. It's visible to me without a subscription.

But for the purposes of this discussion, I've quoted the relevant portion. The rest of the piece is really about why the IRS does not investigate the CF.

MAN wouldn't it BE PERFECT to get THEM BOTH!

Again, THREE FBI field offices wanted to investigate the Foundation. They were told NO by Lynch.

(CNN)Officials from the FBI and Department of Justice met several months ago to discuss opening a public corruption case into the Clinton Foundation, according to a US official. At the time, three field offices were in agreement an investigation should be launched after the FBI received notification from a bank of suspicious activity from a foreigner who had donated to the Clinton Foundation, according to the official.

www.cnn.com...

Could you imagine if 3 FBI field offices wanted Trump investigated?

originally posted by: loam
why the IRS does not investigate the CF.

Probably because the IRS sees no reason to take part in a witch hunt....

Why should they investigate it? Because some people who love to believe every silly conspiracy want them to?

a reply to: hellobruce

Of course this thread isn't about that subject, is it?

if you had blackmail material on a potential future president would you release it to the public and risk that the released material would cause that person to lose the election? or would you keep that material private and wait for the person to get elected then use that material to blackmail the president of the united states??

I have no doubts that her home server WAS hacked and the material recovered WILL be used to blackmail her if she gets elected.

I think it's already on it's way or already done, in today's day and age, it's not hard to get sensitive info, and many times, you don't even need to goto the source. You can socially hack someone who works with the source much easier than you could break into a secured server or network.

Now a days with the insane lack of security minded folks, you only need to be creative to get the information you seek and a spy would have absolutely no problem working some magic to get what they want, I actually believe the Anthony Wiener stuff is related to that but they exposed his texts as the ninja smoke screen.

Welcome to the true age of spy tactics.

a reply to: Tardacus

I agree. So I could imagine a scenario that if it were the Russians, they could do something like 'we plan to roll into the Ukraine and require you stand-down....etc'.

I can barely think of anything more frightening than a compromised, blackmailable, sitting President of the US.

a reply to: loam

I can barely think of anything more frightening than a compromised, blackmailable, sitting President of the US.

But what if, the campaign knowing it was hacked, and understanding what you state could occur anytime after the oath, decided to have an operative transfer the emails to a source that would publish the emails in grand fashion, thereby eliminating the opportunity to have them used against the Office by sponsored-hackers intent on blackmail? Nothing released shows a chargeable offense, right? Only dirty and dark machinations of political power have been revealed thus far. Those paying attention are either disgusted or defensive. But it doesn't look like HRC is falling behind, and now what's left for someone to use as leverage? Hacker: Check. HRC-plant release of same material: Checkmate.