Bottom line: Hillary Clinton screwed up. She’s admitted this repeatedly. Other investigators have come to the same conclusion. If you want to criticize her for this, that’s fine. She deserves it. But there was no criminal intent and essentially no chance that a jury would have convicted her. We’ve known this for months now. Now we know it officially. –Mother Jones

There are those media outlets and individuals as we can see, above, that expected the FBI’s clearance of Hillary and believe it to be justified.

But there are others – a good many – that believe the US justice system itself has been compromised.

In particular, the FBI.

Over at the Washington Examiner, an article entitled “Republicans signal Clinton’s email controversy is only just beginning,” makes the latter case.

Here:

Sen. Ted Cruz questioned the “integrity” of the investigation that led to Clinton and her aides being cleared of criminal wrongdoing … Republicans seemingly agreed Tuesday that FBI Director James Comey’s decision to conclude the Hillary Clinton email probe without recommending prosecution eroded the credibility of the Justice Department.

“Director Comey has rewritten a clearly worded federal criminal statute,” Cruz said in a statement. “In so doing, he has come dangerously close to saying that grossly negligent handling of classified information should not result in serious consequences for high-level officials.”

Cruz added that the FBI’s decision was “troubling” for the “rule of law.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan said that the FBI itself had done “damage” to the rule of law. He also said the FBI had set a “terrible precedent.”

The email accusations may have been resolved in Clinton’s favor but it may well be that Republicans will push for an “investigation of the investigation.”

Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wants Comey to provide the evidence used to absolve Clinton.

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, his House counterpart, wants Comey to explain what he meant by “extreme carelessness.”

The article goes on to mention Trump’s contention that the justice system is “rigged” to support the powerful.

Barack Obama himself continues to come under criticism for statements made supporting Clinton while the investigation was ongoing.

Meanwhile, The New York Post added its voice to the Washington Examiner.

The paper just posted an article entitled, “FBI boss’ outrageous double standard in letting Hillary skate.”

Here:

Tuesday, FBI Director James Comey painted a devastating picture of Hillary Clinton’s reckless lawbreaking with her emails and the damage it likely caused — but then recommended no charges against her. When it comes to the Clintons, say goodbye to the rule of law. Comey said the bureau looked for evidence that “classified information was improperly stored or transmitted” on Clinton’s personal email servers, in violation of a “statute making it a felony to mishandle classified information either intentionally or in a grossly negligent way.”

The Post points out that the FBI did in fact find evidence that “seems enough to convict (never mind indict).”

Why wouldn’t Comey indict? Because the Clintons are above the law, the Post suggests. It concludes as follows:

Comey just dealt a powerful blow to the public’s faith in the concept of equal justice. Hillary will now claim falsely she’s been exonerated — even though the FBI found her in violation of the law.

The FBI has increasingly struggled with negative media attention. Notably, as the Washington Post reported in mid-2015, “The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000.”

Meanwhile alternative media outlets have accused the FBI of exploiting various terrorist attacks for public relations purposes. These accusations continue, though so far the FBI and mainstream media have formally ignored them.

Conclusion: The FBI has secretly expanded around the world even though its mission is supposed to be purely domestic. In this Internet era, its overreach and politicization – always visible – are more evident than ever. At some point it may be faced with considerable challenges to business-as-usual.