for everyone wondering why the clinton email case never went to a grand jury , former u.s. attorney general michael mukasey offers an explanation : after disclosure of emails between hillary clinton and barack obama , <u+201c>the president said during an interview that he thought mrs. clinton should not be criminally charged because there was no evidence that she had intended to harm the nation<u+2019>s security<u+2014> a showing required under none of the relevant statutes . as indefensible as his legal reasoning may have been, his practical reasoning is apparent: if mrs. clinton was at criminal risk for communicating on her nonsecure system, so was he .<u+201d> click here to receive this daily opinion summary via email. a journal editorial says that fbi director james comey is <u+201c>no hero<u+201d> in this drama, <u+201c>but neither is he responsible for mrs. clinton<u+2019>s potential legal jeopardy. she has built her own career monument of deception and public mistrust .<u+201d> the editorial board adds that mrs. clinton <u+201c>could still help voters out by coughing up her 33,000 missing emails. or she could let her aide huma abedin explain to the press what she may have sent to estranged husband anthony weiner, whose laptop contains the new-found emails. but that kind of genuine transparency might be hard to contain .<u+201d> andy puzder , ceo of cke restaurants and a trump economic adviser, says that obamacare is the cause of a <u+201c>restaurant recession.<u+201d> despite low gas prices and grocery bills, consumers are dining out less because of worsening personal finances . mr. puzder cites a survey by civic science and says <u+201c>the one factor that <u+2018>jumped off the screen<u+2019> was increased health-care costs .<u+201d> as sen. harry reid prepares to retire, fred barnes writes that mr. reid<u+2019>s leadership <u+201c> changed the senate dramatically but often carelessly . the upper chamber had traditionally been collegial, high-minded, cautious. during mr. reid<u+2019>s tenure as majority leader from 2007 to 2015, it became more like the house. there was less time for serious floor debates and amendments. decorum suffered . so did bipartisanship.<u+201d> our columnist kimberley strassel debuted a prageru online lecture on thursday entitled, <u+201c>the dark art of political intimidation.<u+201d> a journal editorial notes that within several hours of prageru posting the video, google<u+2019>s youtube placed it in <u+201c>restricted mode,<u+201d> making it inaccessible to schools, libraries and young americans whose parents have enabled youtube technology filters. <u+201c>youtube was proving ms. strassel<u+2019>s point by censoring a video on free speech,<u+201d> writes the editorial board . south of mountain view, liberty is on the rise as voters reject left-wing governments . <u+201c>in less than one year brazil, argentina and peru have all sworn in new center-right presidents, replacing leaders who had been allies of venezuelan strongman hugo ch<u+00e1>vez . last week the south american backlash against chavismo continued its continental sweep when chile held nationwide municipal elections,<u+201d> writes the journal<u+2019>s mary anastasia o<u+2019>grady . kristen silverberg and phil levy say that despite challenges, the strategic case for a european trade deal <u+201c>is more compelling than ever <u+2014>and next year will bring the u.s. an opportunity to restart talks with a new approach.<u+201d> the authors propose that the next u.s. administration <u+201c>relaunch the negotiations as a three-party deal among the u.s., britain and the eu<u+2014> a new atlantic growth pact .<u+201d> <u+201c>as if facing down violent islamist fanatics isn<u+2019>t enough, muslim reformers now have to dodge attacks from the american left,<u+201d> notes a journal editorial. <u+201c>consider the southern poverty law center<u+2019>s decision last week to brand two such reformers, ayaan hirsi ali and britain<u+2019>s maajid nawaz, as <u+2018> anti-muslim extremists .<u+2019><u+201d>
the clinton-obama emails - wsj
james freeman