WikiLeaks Exposes Alleged Clinton Corruption
WikiLeaks released over 50,000 documents that appear to be associated with Hillary Clinton and alleged corruption within the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Emails released in July suggested that the DNC favored Clinton’s campaign and exploited Bernie Sanders’ through the press by questioning if he was an atheist so he would lose support from religious voters, show that Sanders’ had a disorganized campaign, and show that his supporters couldn’t be reasoned with.
Pace political science professor, George Picoulas, said that Clinton would have been the nominee without the DNC favoring her, however, they just made themselves look corrupt.
“The fact that the DNC favored Clinton doesn’t surprise me,” Picoulas said. “I don’t approve of that I think it’s despicable. But frankly, in my opinion, didn’t change anything. I don’t think any Bernie supporter [didn’t learn enough about Sanders] or was discouraged from voting. It just looks really really bad.”
WikiLeaks also released “The Podesta Emails” in October, which showed Clinton telling Wall Street—in a paid private speech—that she has a private policy that’s different from her public policy and she’s removed from the struggles of the middle class, that the American people don’t have a clear idea of how much bloodshed is caused by U.S. intervention, that she knew the government was being hacked in 2014, and that chairman of her campaign John Podesta coordinated with the Super Pac Priorities USA, which is illegal.
“But if everyone’s watching, you know, all of the backroom discussions and the deals, you know, then people get a little nervous, to say the least. So, you need both a public and a private position,” a WikiLeaks document allegedly quoting Clinton read.
Clinton suggested assassinating WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, with a military drone strike to prevent further leaks, according to a document released by WikiLeaks on Oct. 3.
Other leaked documents allegedly show her aides were concerned that she was using a private email server to send classified information while she was Secretary of State and President Barack Obama knew of its existence, which the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) James Comey was investigating.
Comey told congress that agents were investigating additional emails from her private server On Oct. 28. Come, however, said that his initial decision to not charge her had not changed on Nov. 6.
“Congress has spent $25 million or more investigating those emails. I understand she deleted a lot of emails and that doesn’t look good, but everyone does certain things, and that doesn’t mean you’re hiding something huge,” Picoulas said. “Or maybe you are, and that’s also the criminal justice system. If I can’t find evidence to convict you, what am I going to do.”
Clinton has not confirmed or denied the legitimacy of the documents. However, Communications Director for the Clinton campaign, Jennifer Palmieri, said that any upcoming leaks before the election are likely to be fabricated.
Junior Michael Letizia has seen people close to him no longer support Clinton because of the alleged corruption.
“My mom was a Hillary supporter a couple of years ago, but now with all the stuff coming out she’s like [I’m not voting for her],” said Letizia, who supports Donald Trump. “A lot of people picked up on how corrupt she is.”
Picoulas thinks that liberals shouldn’t vote for Trump based on the scandals because a Trump presidency would likely be a detriment to liberal policy, and he would put conversation justices in the supreme court.
“I can understand some people saying, ‘I can’t vote for her right now because of this scandal,’ but going over to the other side demonstrates a lack of judgment and knowledge,” Picoulas said.
Senior David Paulstich compared Trump’s outsider background to Ronald Reagan and said he was more likely to positively impact the country than Clinton.
“Trump might be nuts to [actually make a change in this country,]” Paulstich said.
Professor of Media and Communication Arts Michelle Pulaski Behling’s views haven’t changed by the scandals, since nothing’s been confirmed.
“So far, the way the investigation has gone, it has not impacted me because she has not been found of any illegal activity,” Pulaski said.
Despite the scandals surrounding Clinton, the majority of Pace is voting for her according to the results of Pace’s Mock Election where she got 175 votes, as compared to Trump’s 87.
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