Trump won’t pursue charges against Clinton
Conway says that Trump will not pursue charges against Clinton:
I think when the president-elect who’s also the head of your party … tells you before he’s even inaugurated he doesn’t wish to pursue these charges, it sends a very strong message, tone and content, to the members. Look, I think, he’s thinking of many different things as he prepares to become the president of the United States, and things that sound like the campaign are not among them. I think Hillary Clinton still has to face the fact that a majority of Americans don’t find her to be honest or trustworthy, but if Donald Trump can help her heal, then perhaps that’s a good thing.
76.1m watch final debate
The final U.S. presidential debate is reported to have been seen by 76.1 million people, not including those who streamed the debate online. This figure is less than that of the first debate, but still the third highest in debate-watching history. Their September meeting attracted an audience of 84 million, but still the largest in the history of US presidential debates. The second debate was seen by 66.5 million people in the US, according to Nielsen.
FBI sends Clinton report to Congress
The FBI sends Congress a report the bureau provided to the Justice Department last month to explain why it recommended no charges in the Clinton email server investigation. The decision to provide the investigative material on a case in which charges were not brought is exceedingly rare. The report includes notes from the interviews of Clinton and other witnesses in the investigation. The notes, called 302s, represent an FBI agent’s memos on the interviews and will be provided along with other investigative material. The classified material will be reviewed by congressional officials in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, and cannot legally be shared with the public. FBI:
[It’s being shared with Congress] with the expectation it will not be disseminated or disclosed without FBI concurrence…The FBI conducted this investigation, as it does all investigations, in a competent, honest and independent way. As the director stated, the FBI did find evidence that Secretary Clinton and her colleagues were extremely careless in their handling of certain, very sensitive, highly classified information. The term ‘extremely careless’ was intended to be a common sense way of describing the actions of Secretary Clinton and her colleagues. The director did not equate ‘extreme carelessness’ with the legal standard of ‘gross negligence’ that is required by the statute. In this case, the FBI assessed that the facts did not support a recommendation to prosecute her or others within the scope of the investigation for gross negligence.
The Clinton campaign calls for the notes to be released:
This is an extraordinarily rare step that was sought solely by Republicans for the purposes of further second-guessing the career professionals at the FBI. We believe that if these materials are going to be shared outside the Justice Department, they should be released widely so that the public can see them for themselves, rather than allow Republicans to mischaracterize them through selective, partisan leaks.
Black and Brown Forum debate
Sanders and Clinton debate policy issues during the Iowa Black and Brown Forum, hosted by Drake University. At specific issue were gun control, Wall Street reform, tax policy and immigration issues. Clinton’s campaign released a statement during the forum, related to questions asked during the event:
Our immigration enforcement efforts should be humane and conducted in accordance with due process, and that is why I believe we must stop the raids happening in immigrant communities.
Told adviser to send sensitive messages ‘nonsecure’
According to one of 1,262 emails released by the State Department, on June 17, 2011, Clinton told Jake Sullivan, one of her top advisers, to send her a sensitive message ‘nonsecure’. The batch also contains 66 classified messages, bringing the total from her email server to 1,340. The exchange happened when Sullivan had trouble sending a faxed set of talking points to Clinton securely. Clinton responds:
If they can’t, turn into nonpaper w no identifying heading and send nonsecure.
It is unclear whether the talking points themselves contained classified information. The State Department says a review showed that the document in question was sent “apparently by secure fax, after all,” and was never was sent to Clinton by email. Clinton’s campaign:
It is false that Hillary Clinton asked for classified material to be sent over a nonsecure system.
Clinton ‘Two Faced,’ ‘Liar,’
In an interview with Klein, Jones criticizes Hillary Clinton’s statements about standing by the victims of sexual assault.
And how dare her. You know what? She don’t care nothing about women. Because if she did she would believe what I had to say. She would believe what the other women had to say. It’s really a sad, sad day if Hillary becomes president, because she has allowed her husband to get by with this type of stuff. Why does he have a right to be back in the White House, the people’s house? Why is he allowed to be back there with the track record that he has and his wife and the lying that she does and how she tried to discredit all of these women that her husband abused and sexually harassed? [She’s] such a liar. And she’s so two faced. I never once was contacted by her. Not one time and apologized about what her husband did to me.
She also says the treatment of the Clintons in the media differs from that of Bill Cosby:
There are so many people, I think, in the media, and so many people out there protecting them for whatever reason. I don’t know if they are scared of them, or what? If Bill Cosby, I mean, even if what he did was somewhat different, he still abused these women sexually and so did Bill Clinton. I’m not going to speak for all of them. But I know about me and what I heard about Kathleen Willey and different ones. I mean, he is a predator. I just don’t understand how he can get by with it.
Proposes $2 billion Alzheimer’s cure program
Clinton proposes the government spend an extra $2 billion a year to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease before 2025. A briefing on her website says she came up with a proposal to find a cure after consulting with “leading physician-scientists to understand what it would take to rapidly accelerate the progress we are making.”
Top researchers have noted that this is achievable if we make the commitment, marshal the resources, and provide the needed leadership…[Clinton] knows that reaching the goal will involve investments across the drug development cycle, from basic research to applied and translational research to public-private partnerships for clinical research.
Demands Clinton apology
Trump demands an apology from Clinton over her remarks that he is being used for ISIS recruitment.
I demand an apology from Hillary Clinton for the disgusting story she made up about me for purposes of the debate. There never was a video.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2015
Clinton’s comments ‘terrifying’
In response to Clinton’s debate comments about tech and national security:
I would hope that, given the extraordinary capacities that the tech community has and the legitimate needs and questions from law enforcement, that there could be a Manhattan-like project — something that would bring the government and the tech communities together to see they’re not adversaries, they’ve got to be partners…Maybe the backdoor is the wrong door, and I understand what Apple and others are saying about that. I know that law enforcement needs the tools to keep us safe.
Snowden says:
Aaaaaaaaand Hillary just terrified everyone with an internet connection. #DemDebate
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 20, 2015
Calls Clinton a liar
In an interview on Meet the Press, Trump calls Clinton a liar.
It’s just another Hillary lie. She lies like crazy about everything — whether it’s trips where she was being gunned down in a helicopter, or an airplane. She’s a liar and everybody knows that.
Later he tweets:
Hillary Clinton lied when she said that "ISIS is using video of Donald Trump as a recruiting tool." This was fact checked by @FoxNews: FALSE
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2015
Says Trump is ‘ISIS best recruiter’
During the Democratic presidential debate Clinton says Trump is hurting the U.S. fight against terrorism with anti-Muslim rhetoric.
He is becoming ISIS’ best recruiter.They are going to people, showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists…The first line of defense against radicalization is in the Muslim American community — people who we should be welcoming and working with…I worry greatly that the rhetoric coming from the Republicans, particularly Donald Trump, is sending a message to Muslims here in the United States and literally around the world that there is a clash of civilizations, that there is some kind of Western plot or war against Islam, which then, I believe, fans the flames of radicalization…If you’re going to put together a coalition in the region to take on the threat of ISIS, you don’t want to alienate the very countries and people you need to be part of the coalition.
Supports Clinton in Iowa
Bill Clinton and Perry give their support to Hillary, at a rally in Iowa.
I stand and I march with Hillary. I believe in her future, her vision. I believe in her policies. I believe in equal rights for men, women.
Hillary:
Y’know, sometimes it’s important. You just have to roar about what you have to fight for.
Testifies to Benghazi committee
Clinton testifies about her role in the 2012 Benghazi attack, in an 11-hour congressional hearing. An email to her daughter was shown, where Clinton said the attack was by Al-Qaeda, despite telling the public the attack was a result of the video. She acknowledged that she couldn’t recall having talked to Ambassador Stevens after having sworn him in as ambassador, though she believed they had spoken. She said he did not have her email. At another point, clinton laughed when she said she spent the night alone after she left the office on the night of the attack.
I came here because I said I would. And I’ve done everything I know to do, as have the people with whom I worked, to try to answer your questions. I cannot do any more than that.
CNN interview
Clinton is interviewed by Tapper on State of The Union. Tapper:
With all your experience, why wouldn’t you anticipate that over the course of four years, handling very sensitive diplomatic negotiations, overseeing military interventions and surveillance, why wouldn’t you anticipate that something classified, whether about North Korea or Iran or drones or an informant for the CIA, that it wouldn’t be emailed to you? And why wouldn’t you consider that having it on your personal account with some server in Colorado might be a personal risk
Clinton:
It was allowed under the rules of the State Department…No, no, it was allowed. You know, one of my predecessors did the same thing
FBI focuses on ‘gross negligence’
An intelligence source tells Fox News that FBI is now focused on whether there were violations of an Espionage Act subsection pertaining to “gross negligence” in the safekeeping of national defense information. It is a violation for the “lawful possession” of national defense information by a security clearance holder who “through gross negligence,” such as the use of an unsecure computer network, permits the material to be removed or abstracted from its proper, secure location. The section also requires the clearance holder to report any loss, theft or destruction to their superior. The penalty is a fine and/or no more than ten years in jail. The source also says that the FBI are investigating possible obstruction of justice:
If someone knows there is an ongoing investigation and takes action to impede an investigation, for example destruction of documents or threatening of witnesses, that could be a separate charge but still remain under a single case.
Defends Clinton on emails
At the first Democratic debate, Sanders defends Clinton over her email controversy.
Clinton: I’ve taken responsibility for it. I did say it was a mistake. I have been as transparent as I know to be, turning over 55,000 pages of my e-mails, asking that they be made public. [I’d rather spend my time talking about] the issues that matter to the American people
Sanders: Let me say — let me say something that may not be great politics. But I think the secretary is right, and that is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.
Clinton: Thank you. Me, too. Me, too.
The two then exchange a friendly handshake.
First Democratic debate
Clinton faces Bernie Sanders, Lincoln Chafee and Jim Webb at the first Democratic Party debate, hosted by CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
I’m a progressive. But I’m a progressive who likes to get things done.
I respect [Sander’s] passion and intensity. I represented Wall Street as a senator from New York, and I went to Wall Street in December of 2007 — before the big crash that we had — and I basically said, ‘Cut it out! Quit foreclosing on homes! Quit engaging in these kinds of speculative behaviors.
Server connected openly to Internet
According to The Associated Press, Clinton’s server, which handled her personal and State Department correspondence, appears to allow users to connect openly over the Internet to control it remotely, according to detailed records compiled in 2012. Experts say the Microsoft remote desktop service wasn’t intended for such use without additional protective measures, and was the subject of U.S. government and industry warnings at the time over attacks from even low-skilled intruders. Clinton also operated two more devices on her home network in Chappaqua, New York, that also were directly accessible from the Internet.
Opposes TTP
In an interview with Woodruff on PBS NewsHour, Clinton says she opposes the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, a deal she backed while she was Secretary of State. She says it fails to create good jobs, raise wages and advance national security.
What I know about it, as of today I’m not in favor of what I’ve learned about it…I still believe in the goal of a strong and fair trade agreement in the Pacific as part of a broader strategy both at home and abroad, just as I did when I was Secretary of State. I appreciate the hard work that President Obama and his team put into this process and recognize the strides they made. But the bar here is very high and, based on what I have seen, I don’t believe this agreement has met it.
Claim: Most transparent person in US history
At a town hall in Iowa, Clinton claims she is the most transparent person in U.S. history.
I have gone further than anybody that I’m aware of in American history. Now it’s not a long history since we haven’t had emails that long–as long as we’ve had them, I’ve gone longer and farther to be as transparent as possible. Nobody else has done that. [I’m] a little embarrassed that the emails are so boring.