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Clinton is to blame – not Comey, Russians

I voted for Hillary Clinton. I did it despite her apparent lies about her email server, the WikiLeaks revelations that supposedly neutral Democratic Party officials worked to secure her nomination, the million-dollar contributions to the Clinton Foundation while was secretary of state, and FBI Director James Comey’s last-second announcement about new questions regarding her emails.

My reasoning, like that of many Americans, was that Donald Trump was worse.

Last week, she blamed her defeat mostly on Russian hackers and Comey. “If the election had been on Oct. 27,” she said, referring to the day before the FBI new probe became public, “I would be your president.”

Comey played an inexplicable role in the election. In July, he said the FBI recommended no charges against Clinton for using a private email server for official communications, but he called her handling of classified information “extremely careless.” He then promised to advise Congress if new evidence emerged.

Ten days before November’s election, he said the FBI had uncovered Clinton-related emails connected to the bureau’s investigation. The emails had turned up in an unrelated investigation of sexually explicit text messages allegedly between Rep. Anthony Weiner and a 15-year-old girl. Weiner is the estranged husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin.

Then, two days before the election, Comey again said no charges would be filed against Clinton. The FBI determined the emails were mostly personal and duplicates of what the bureau had already seen.

So why did Comey reveal his probe less than two weeks before the election? Some law enforcement officials said Comey spoke publicly to head off leaks about Clinton by angry FBI and other Justice Department investigators. They had apparently discovered a link between Clinton’s overseas trips as secretary of state and contributions to the Clinton Foundation.

Clinton has denied any wrongdoing.

So here’s a few words for Clinton. You didn’t lose the election only because of the Russian hackers or Comey. You lost because you focused on the demographic of women and minorities, because you chose not to pay more attention to key Midwestern states you lost, because you no longer seem to have the ideals and principles you started out with, and because many voters feel you can’t be trusted.