Bernie Sanders's path to the presidency was never going to be easy. After surging in the polls and consistently proving America's political establishment wrong, Sanders won Colorado and other states on Super Tuesday. He still has a path to win the Democratic nomination via the primaries, but Bernie Sanders just won the presidency for another reason: Hillary Clinton's quest for "convenience."
Bryan Pagliano, the person who set up Clinton's private server and email apparatus, was just given immunity by the Justice Department. According to The Washington Post, "The Clintons paid Pagliano $5,000 for 'computer services' prior to his joining the State Department, according to a financial disclosure form he filed in April 2009."
First, this can't be a right-wing conspiracy because it's President Obama's Justice Department granting immunity to one of Hillary Clinton's closest associates. Second, immunity from what? The Justice Department won't grant immunity to anyone unless there's potential criminal activity involved with an FBI investigation. Third, and most importantly for Bernie Sanders, there's only one Democrat in 2016 not linked to the FBI, Justice Department, or 31,830 deleted emails.
These 31,830 deleted emails, by the way, were deleted without government oversight.
Only one person set up the server that circumvented U.S. government networks and this person is Bryan Pagliano. Not long ago, Pagliano pleaded the Fifth, so this new development speaks volumes. His immunity, at this point in Clinton's campaign, spells trouble and could lead to an announcement in early May from the FBI about whether or not Clinton or her associates committed a crime. As stated in The New York Times, "Then the Justice Department will decide whether to file criminal charges and, if so, against whom."
The FBI's investigation will decide if there was criminal activity involved in owning the server and storing classified information on a non-government network. Already, I've written numerous articles on why Bernie Sanders is the true front-runner, and has been since last year, partly because of Clinton's FBI investigation. Bryan Pagliano being granted immunity, however, changes the ballgame.
Hillary supporters everywhere most likely don't care, but this development, and the testimony (free from any legal consequences) of the man who set up Clinton's computer apparatus, secures Bernie Sanders's front-runner status as the Democratic nominee. The DNC would be engaging in political suicide by entering November 8, 2016 with a nominee linked to a person just granted immunity from President Obama's Justice Department, primarily because there's a reason this man was granted immunity in the first place.
Connect the dots while being honest with these developments, and only one logical progression, if Democrats actually want to win this year, must take place: Bernie Sanders saves the Democratic Party from Hillary Clinton and defeats Donald Trump by 8 points. Yes, Bernie defeats Trump by a wider margin than Clinton in a general election.
Trump wins with a Democratic nominee linked not only to an FBI investigation, but to aides being given immunity for their testimony.
Bernie Sanders already defeats Donald Trump by a much wider margin than Clinton's 3.4-point victory on average, without an FBI investigation, and without an associate enjoying legal immunity from the Justice Department.
In addition to born classified emails (emails that were classified from the start of their existence, undermining the claim that certain emails weren't classified when Clinton stored them on her server), as well as Top Secret intelligence on an unguarded server stored in her basement, Hillary Clinton has never explained the political utility of owning a private server.
Why did Hillary need to own a private server?
Aside from her excuse pertaining to convenience, why did Clinton need to circumvent U.S. government networks?
Clinton already apologized for the private server, and here's the apology:
Clinton has said: "Yes, I should have used two email addresses, one for personal matters and one for my work at the State Department. Not doing so was a mistake. I'm sorry about it, and I take full responsibility."
However, only Bryan Pagliano can explain to the FBI why Clinton needed the server, it's political utility, and most importantly, how the computer network was protected. Also, Pagliano can help with understanding the computer server's connection to other Clinton projects like their foundation, or other activities.
There are most likely a number of reasons Clinton needed the server and Pagliano's immunity helps the FBI immeasurable in deciphering whether or not criminal intent or behavior is a part of their recommendation to the Justice Department. Pagliano's immunity is explained in a Washington Post piece titled Justice Dept. grants immunity to staffer who set up Clinton email server:
The Justice Department has granted immunity to a former State Department staffer, who worked on Hillary Clinton's private email server, as part of a criminal investigation into the possible mishandling of classified information, according to a senior law enforcement official.
The official said the FBI had secured the cooperation of Bryan Pagliano, who worked on Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign before setting up the server in her New York home in 2009.
As the FBI looks to wrap up its investigation in the coming months, agents are likely to want to interview Clinton and her senior aides about the decision to use a private server, how it was set up, and whether any of the participants knew they were sending classified information in emails, current and former officials said.
... Spokesmen at the FBI and Justice Department would not discuss the investigation. Pagliano's attorney, Mark J. MacDougall, also declined to comment.
"There was wrongdoing," said a former senior law enforcement official. "But was it criminal wrongdoing?"
Yes, Pagliano was granted immunity for a reason, and even if he helped a crime take place, or engaged in questionable practices, he's free to give testimony to the FBI and Justice Department officials. As for Hillary Clinton's campaign, immunity for Pagliano could mean that other associates, like Huma Abedin, also seek a bargain with law enforcement officials.
As for the issue of criminality, Detroit's Click on Detroit Local 4 News explains the severity of this saga in a piece titled DOJ grants immunity to ex-Clinton staffer who set up email server:
Bryan Pagliano, a former Clinton staffer who helped set up her private email server, has accepted an immunity offer from the FBI and the Justice Department to provide an interview to investigators, a U.S. law enforcement official told CNN Wednesday.
With the completion of the email review, FBI investigators are expected to shift their focus on whether the highly sensitive government information, including top secret and other classified matters, found on Clinton's private email server constitutes a crime.
Whether or not a crime was committed is intrinsically linked to why Hillary Clinton needed a private server. Pagliano's testimony will be invaluable in helping the FBI decipher why the server was needed and how safe it was in storing sensitive information.
As for others within Clinton's inner circle, Huma Abedin is also part of this email investigation, as stated in a CNN article titled Clinton emails: What have we learned?:
The State Department is furthermore being sued for the emails of top aides, and for the tens of thousands of emails Clinton deemed personal and didn't turn over for review.
At a hearing last week in one such lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said he's considering asking the State Department to subpoena Clinton, and aide Huma Abedin, in an effort to learn more about those emails...
Clinton and her aides insist none of the emails she sent or received were marked as classified at the time they were sent, but more than 2,101 have been retroactively classified during the State Department-led pre-release review process.
Whether or not the intelligence was classified at the time is irrelevant; there's already proof of born classified intelligence on Clinton's server. Former Obama official Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn believes Hillary Clinton should "drop out" of the race because of the FBI investigation.
Bernie Sanders just won the Democratic nomination and presidency, primarily because Clinton can't even type an email without an FBI investigation. I explained my thoughts on the FBI investigation with Victor Blackwell on CNN New Day. Ultimately, President Obama's legacy, as well as the Democratic Party's future are linked to James Comey's investigation of Clinton's emails. While few see the correlation, Bernie Sanders will become president, primarily because he's the only honest Democratic nominee running in 2016.