“ This whole thing went south when Trump said publicly that Hillary ought not to be prosecuted.”
This.
L
“This whole thing went south when Trump said publicly that Hillary ought not to be prosecuted.”
That is true, but perhaps as it should be.
Putting Hillary and the other Obama co-conspirators in jail for SpyGate may seem, to many, like the only true justice - but I believe it would have been short-sighted; an immediate legal solution for a long-term political problem.
For example, if they had all gone to jail n 2017, what would stop the very next Democrat President from pardoning them, and resurrecting them as heroes and martyrs - stronger than ever before? And if Trump had gone that route - had actually thrown his political adversaries in jail (however well deserved) - would the American people have necessarily taken kindly to it?
The more permanent solution to a political problem (albeit far less satisfying) is to win politically, if not legally.
When President Trump said publicly that Hillary ought not to be prosecuted, perhaps he had come to the conclusion that the two solutions, political vs. legal, are mutually exclusive, as well they might be.