A former top military intelligence official in the Obama administration is calling for Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton to withdraw from the presidential race due to the scandal over her private email server.
Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the former Defense Intelligence Agency head, on Friday said if he had done what Clinton allegedly did, he “would be out the door and probably in jail.”
{mosads}He said Clinton’s lack of accountability is troubling and her continued participation in the presidential race is stretching FBI resources thin.
“It’s been stated that there are 100 FBI agents that are on this case, and yet we have the FBI director that has told us that in all 50 states, we have Islamic State cases ongoing,” Flynn said on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
“And I know the FBI is just overwhelmed with white-collar crime, child pornography cases, transnational organized criminal cases, as well as the Islamic State,” he added. “And now we have to put another 100 agents on this case of Hillary Clinton.
“So if she were to step down, the nation would allow itself to back down a little bit and let this investigation run its course with her not in the limelight and making this such a big, big deal.”
Flynn said as a former first lady and U.S. senator, Clinton “knew better” than to use a private email server as secretary of State.
“She knew better,” he said. “In the roles that she has had, both as a senator, both as a – even back when she’s married to the president of the United States, so she’s going to have privileged information in that regard, and not only as the secretary of State, which is part of the national security council, so she should know better.”
He said Clinton’s excuse – that the scandal is the result of classification run amuck in the intelligence community – does not pass muster.
“This over-classification excuse is not an excuse,” he said. “If it’s classified, it’s classified.”
Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon later on the program called the general’s comments “just silly.”
Flynn, who has been critical of the Obama administration’s Middle East foreign policy, has advised five presidential campaigns, including that of Republican primary front-runner Donald Trump.
He said he would be willing to advise any candidate in the race, Republican or Democrat.