When Bill Donohue filed a complaint with the authorities against Anthony Weiner over the summer, he had no idea it would prove to be so historic. Following the election, Hillary Clinton blamed this FBI probe for her loss to Donald Trump.
On August 31, Donohue asked for an investigation of Weiner on suspicion of sexually abusing his four-year-old child, Jordan. He did so because of a front-page story in the New York Post showing Weiner using his son as a “chick magnet” to lure sexual relations. (Two days earlier the paper ran a story on Weiner “sexting” a middle-age woman.)
Donohue immediately filed a complaint with the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), the New York City branch of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. His initiative was cited by the New York Post and the British Daily Mail Online.
On September 26, Donohue received a phone call from ACS. He was told that his complaint had been accepted and that Weiner was under investigation by the New York Police Department. The next day, the same ACS official called to question him further. A week later, on October 3, FBI agents seized Weiner’s laptop, phone, and tablet.
On October 28, the FBI announced that it had found emails on Weiner’s computer from his wife, Huma Abedin, sent to Hillary Clinton on her private server. It quickly examined them, concluding a week later that no law had been broken.
Donohue triggered the investigation because of media bias: it continues to blame priests for sexually abusing minors. He also cited the “emotional and physical well being” of Jordan.
Had Donohue not filed a formal complaint, the NYPD would not have launched a probe looking for child porn on Weiner’s computer. The NYPD, in turn, would not have contacted the FBI had it not found emails between Abedin and Hillary that were on her private server.
On November 12, Hillary held a conference call with her trusted aides. She contended that FBI director James Comey was responsible for turning public opinion against her. She argued that his public statement on October 28 announcing the probe cost her the election.
What Hillary did not say is that in July, after Comey completed his first investigation of her emails, he pledged to alert the Congress if there were any other developments. She and her staff never complained then.
As Donohue sees it, the political fallout must be laid squarely at the doorstep of Hillary Clinton. Had she not had her own server, the FBI would have had nothing to investigate.
