Libertarian presidential ticket is sharply split over the FBI's new inquiry into Clinton's emails
Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson and his running mate, William Weld, appear to be running almost parallel campaigns. "We're not scripted at all," Johnson told The New York Times earlier this month. That certainly rings true in their responses to FBI Director James Comey's letter to Congress on Friday informing committee chairmen that the FBI had uncovered emails that might be pertinent to Hillary Clinton's use of a private server.
Johnson, a former Republican governor of New Mexico, told MSNBC's Richard Lui over the weekend that "with 11 days to go, the fact that the FBI comes out and says this, I mean, that is really significant, because what they're saying is that they do have something but they don't know what it is, and clearly they would not have released this if it isn't something." He added that it is "very significant that this is on the table, she will be under investigation. I just think if she takes office, that this is just going to hang over her head for four years, that we're going to be talking about impeachment for four years, the WikiLeaks, all of this information."
Lui noted that if Clinton falls in the polls, that will likely help the Libertarian ticket, and he asked about Comey's handling of the new revelation. "I think this is a non-political guy, he is re-raising it, what can he do?" Johnson asked. "He saw all this ahead of time, he can't release what he has because he really doesn't know what he has other than it's significant, or he wouldn't have done it in the first place."
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On Fox News on Sunday, Weld — a former GOP governor of Massachusetts and Justice Department official before that — disagreed with Johnson. "The sending the letter by the director I find, personally, inconceivable. Inconceivable," he said. "My emotional response is this should not happen. I mean, I absorbed and mainlined the Justice Department's motto, which is to dispense justice, due justice, without fear or favor. And I don't feel like that's being done here." Weld added: "I repeat, there's no substance yet on the table. We found some more emails, we have not read them — all the more surprising that that would be the occasion for a formal letter to eight committees of Congress." Watch below. Peter Weber
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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