Seth Meyers has an alternate theory on what sparked the new FBI Clinton email hunt
Hillary Clinton's double-digit lead in the polls last week had her in a very good mood — maybe too good, Seth Meyers said on Monday's Late Night. She even proposed on a talk radio program that America needs a national dance party to lighten its mood. Meyers said that would be a terrible idea. "This threat, this very, very serious threat of a national arms-only dance party led by Hillary Clinton caught the attention of the FBI, who realized they had to do something to dampen her spirits," Meyers said.
That of course would be FBI Director James Comey's vague letter to Congress, informing lawmakers of... something about emails. Comey's "ambiguity bomb" of a letter was "so vague, it was like the entire country got a voicemail from the FBI director just saying, 'We need to talk,'" Meyers said. "Donald Trump still hasn't released his tax returns, 12 women have accused him of sexual assault, and he's going on trial for fraud for Trump University in November, but now the only thing the media's talking about is emails," he said. "It's like if during the O.J. trial everyone was focused on whether or not the Ford Bronco had up-to-date registration."
When Meyers got down to brass tacks, he quickly decided Anthony Weiner and details were not a good combination. "Now this latest news has revealed the hypocrisy on display in both parties," Meyers said, with each party switching sides on how they feel about Comey. And Comey himself was concerned that his letter would be misconstrued. "In terms of being misunderstood, don't worry, because our media always behaves calmly and rationally when it comes to potential Clinton scandals," Meyers snarked, with justification. "They would never baselessly speculate."
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But this is about more than just the FBI and Clinton and emails, Meyers concluded. "Now we've got Republicans basically foaming at the mouth for another four years of paralyzing political dysfunction," and they were planning for that even before the latest FBI move, he said. "And this kind of permanent investigation where you subject your political opponents to constant hounding and never ending legal proceedings is paralyzing our political system." 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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