--- title: Sen Rand Paul: Hillary Clinton Should Not Be Above the Law description: The FBI’s decision to not prosecute Hillary Clinton shows we have become a nation of two sets of laws canonical: https://time.com/4393859/fbi-hillary-clinton-email-fbi/ author: Rand Paul article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-05T21:49:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:22.465Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Sen Rand Paul: Hillary Clinton Should Not Be Above the Law og:description: We are now a nation of two sets of laws: one for us, and one for the Clintons og:url: https://time.com/4393859/fbi-hillary-clinton-email-fbi/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bc65fe87bc30279/69889abb0a4a227c5c9ca5b4/rand-paul-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Rand Paul og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sen Rand Paul: Hillary Clinton Should Not Be Above the Law twitter:description: We are now a nation of two sets of laws: one for us, and one for the Clintons twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bc65fe87bc30279/69889abb0a4a227c5c9ca5b4/rand-paul-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sen Rand Paul: Hillary Clinton Should Not Be Above the Law > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=b36cf319-c566-464e-b3eb-13743660db57&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: FBI Director Comey on Clinton Email Probe [Watch (HLS stream): FBI Director Comey on Clinton Email Probe](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/sczRGEYk.m3u8) (1:21)  _Published 2016-07-05. FBI Director James Comey will recommend no charges be brought against Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server and account while she served as Secretary of State._  by [Rand Paul](https://time.com/author/sen-rand-paul/)  ## Rand Paul Jul 5, 2016 9:49 PM UTC  Sen. Rand Paul speaks at the New Hampshire Republican Party summit in Nashua, N.H., Jan. 23, 2016. Sen. Rand Paul speaks at the New Hampshire Republican Party summit in Nashua, N.H., Jan. 23, 2016. Matt Rourke—AP  by [Rand Paul](https://time.com/author/sen-rand-paul/)  ## Rand Paul Jul 5, 2016 9:49 PM UTC It is said—and most of us have spent our lives believing—that we are a nation of laws. If the FBI’s [decision](http://time.com/4393271/james-comey-fbi-hillary-clinton-email/?xid=homepage) to not prosecute Hillary Clinton is accepted, we will have become a nation of two sets of laws: one for the Clintons, and one for everyone else. On Tuesday, FBI Director James Comey held an astonishing [press conference](https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/statement-by-fbi-director-james-b.-comey-on-the-investigation-of-secretary-hillary-clintons-use-of-a-personal-e-mail-system) in which he delivered a scathing rundown on Clinton’s wrongdoings in handling classified information and national security during her tenure as Secretary of State. The FBI showed clearly that Clinton violated classified procedures and carelessly, recklessly endangered national security—and did so repeatedly, over 100 times. The FBI then announced she would face no charges. This is an outrage, and the rule of law has been shattered. Any career civil servant or military offer who had been so “careless” with national security and classified information would have had his or her security clearance stripped at a minimum, possibly been fired, and certainly have been open to criminal charges. In fact, when one ambassador chose to use his own email server to send his traffic, in violation of a multitude of laws and procedures, the State Department cited it as one of the main reasons for his ouster. The Secretary of State at that time? Hillary Clinton. The Justice Department prosecuted NSA whistleblower [Thomas Drake](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ist/?next=/history/leaks-and-the-law-the-story-of-thomas-drake-14796786/) with charges that could have led to 35 years in prison. General David Petraeus was [charged](http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/23/politics/david-petraeus-sentencing/) and pled guilty to similar classified breaches; he faced two years probation and a $100,000 fine. There are plainly written laws about this—Title 18 USC Sections 793 and 798, among others. The FBI director singlehandedly changed the meaning of the law Tuesday when he decided that if the intent to harm was not present, then there is no violation. That’s clearly wrong both by plain reading of the law and by practice of previous prosecutions. Gross negligence is the standard, not intentional harm. The top law enforcement officers in our country should know this. But the rules and laws are apparently for the other people, not for Clinton. It’s disgusting, and it should preclude Clinton from ever holding high office again. How can we trust someone to be Commandeer in Chief who would not even qualify for a security clearance if her name weren’t Clinton? And how do we tell the people who have faced the consequences that though they received punishment, Hillary gets off with nothing? We shouldn’t have to. The FBI should be better than this. The Justice Department should be better than this. How did this all come about? Well, we don’t know for sure, but it sure smells funny. This weekend, we learned former [President Clinton met with Attorney General Loretta Lynch](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-everyone-looks-bad-because-bill-clinton-met-with-loretta-lynch/2016/07/02/a7807adc-3ff4-11e6-a66f-aa6c1883b6b1%5Fstory.html)—and the FBI director’s boss—in private. Three days later the FBI director announces no charges are being brought against Hillary Clinton**.** The appearance is terrible. The decision is astounding. People have gone to jail for far less severe breaches of classified information and national security. Today Director Comey and the Obama Administration Department of Justice made it clear to the American people, and all those being unfairly prosecuted by the DOJ, that there is no accountability and no justice. Today, they made it clear that the Clintons are allowed to live by a different set of rules. This is a loss for the rule of law and further degrades Americans’ faith in the justice system. ## Transcript Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information. In looking back at our investigation, [ INAUDIBLE ] Into the mishandling or removal of classified information. We cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts. All the cases prosecuted involved some combination of clearly intentional and willful mishandling of classified information. Or vast quantities of information. Exposed in such a way as to support an inference of intentional misconduct or indications of disloyalty to the United States or efforts to obstruct justice. We do not see those things here. To be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequence To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions but that's not what we're deciding now. As a result although the department of justice makes final decisions on matters like this, we are expressing to justice our view that no charges are appropriate in this case. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4393859/fbi-hillary-clinton-email-fbi/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4393859/fbi-hillary-clinton-email-fbi/"},"headline":"Sen Rand Paul: Hillary Clinton Should Not Be Above the Law","datePublished":"2016-07-05T21:49:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:55:22.465Z","description":"The FBI’s decision to not prosecute Hillary Clinton shows we have become a nation of two sets of laws","url":"https://time.com/4393859/fbi-hillary-clinton-email-fbi/","keywords":["politics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bc65fe87bc30279/69889abb0a4a227c5c9ca5b4/rand-paul-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rand Paul","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sen-rand-paul/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bc65fe87bc30279/69889abb0a4a227c5c9ca5b4/rand-paul-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rand Paul","caption":"Sen. 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