The WikiLeaks release of hacked emails provide "hard textual backup" to not vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton, conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer said Thursday.
"The most sensational disclosure was the proposed deal between the State Department and the FBI in which the FBI would declassify a Clinton email and State would give the FBI more slots in overseas stations," Krauthammer said in an op-ed in The Washington Post.
"What made it sensational was the rare appearance in an official account of the phrase 'quid pro quo,' which is the currently agreed-upon dividing line between acceptable and unacceptable corruption.
"This is nonetheless an odd choice for most egregious offense."
And, while the deal never happened — the FBI denied the declassification request — Krauthammer said the phrase "quid pro quo" made the email "a warm gun but nonsmoking."
But other examples, including Qatar offering a $1 million "birthday" gift to Bill Clinton for five minutes of his time, raise serious questions.
"Who offers — who takes — $200,000 a minute?" he asked. "We don't know the 'quid' here, but it's got to be big."
He also noted how Hillary Clinton "ran and hid when asked about pay-for-play at the Clinton Foundation" during Wednesday's debate in Las Vegas.
"And for good reason," he added. "The emails reveal how foundation donors were first in line for favors and contracts."
"I didn't need the Wiki files to oppose Hillary Clinton," said Krauthammer, noting he has long opposed her as a conservative.
"As for character, I have watched her long enough to find her deeply flawed, to the point of unfitness. But for those heretofore unpersuaded, the recent disclosures should close the case.
"A case so strong that, against any of a dozen possible GOP candidates, voting for her opponent would be a no-brainer," he said.
"Against Donald Trump, however, it's a dilemma.
"I will not vote for Hillary Clinton" — and "I could never vote for Donald Trump," Krauthammer said.
"The only question is whose name I'm going to write in," he continued. "With Albert Schweitzer doubly unavailable (noncitizen, dead), I'm down to Paul Ryan or Ben Sasse."
Ryan, from Wisconsin, is the Speaker of the House. Sasse represents Nebraska in the Senate.
"Two weeks to decide."
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