Better in their words…

I happen to agree with most of these letters. Trump should not pre-empt getting the facts into the light.
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The thrust of your Nov. 23 editorial “Democracy’s Verdict on Clinton” is that President-elect Donald Trump did the right thing by deciding not to prosecute Hillary Clinton for her email and Clinton Foundation issues.

But the subject is much larger and more important than Mrs. Clinton and whatever she did or didn’t do. Dropping the investigations would leave many key questions unanswered. Is there a two-tiered justice system in which the well-connected get favorable treatment? Was Mrs. Clinton’s server hacked and her emails stolen by Russia, China, North Korea, Iran or other states or individuals? Were crimes committed by anyone else involved with Mrs. Clinton? If so, should they be prosecuted? What changes to the laws and governmental procedures should be made to prevent similar occurrences in the future?

This isn’t like President Ford’s pardon of President Nixon after the Watergate affair. Ford acted after all the facts were out and well known by the public. The pardon came after extremely extensive news coverage and after Senate hearings that extended week after week on live TV, with testimony from all important participants, including White House aides and other administration figures. Many lower-level figures were prosecuted and either entered guilty pleas or were found guilty at trial, and many went to jail. None of this has occurred in the present case. There have been congressional hearings that were notable mostly for what wasn’t said and questions not answered, but there was no informative testimony from administration officials. There is no public knowledge of the results of the FBI investigations.

Even if Mrs. Clinton is pardoned, it is vital to get the facts out and, if appropriate, to prosecute her accomplices and enablers as a deterrent to future abuses.

A.A. KATTERHENRY Clearwater, Fla.

To place political expediency before the protection of defense personnel and national security is manifestly irresponsible. The integrity of the classification system guards people’s lives. There is no other way to express it. Those in military uniform, plus a number of people elsewhere within the front lines of intelligence and some defense agencies, risk their very lives every day under the protection of these secrecies.

COL. ART SABOSKI, USAF (RET.)

Prescott Valley, Ariz.

What is to happen to the many persons in this case who aren’t elected officials but were involved to a greater or lesser degree? Are they to be absolved with a wave of the hand? What about the lawyers who facilitated the destruction of evidence on the Clinton email server that had been subpoenaed, for example? If proved, those who supervised the team that destroyed evidence should be held accountable for clearly criminal acts.

How far does the exoneration go? If it is later found out that foreign nations hacked into the email server and obtained vital state secrets, is everyone remotely involved forgiven? What about sexism in reverse? Allowing the women involved to go free for a reason that appears to be they were just women close to Hillary.

We have learned through history that just following orders is no defense. Compare the treatment of Scooter Libby with the apparent treatment in this case of Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills.

This case could set dangerous precedents for the futures.

LARRY G. DEVRIES

Vancouver, Wash.

In the spirit of fair play, Presidentelect Trump should at the same time pardon Gen. David Petraeus, Petty Officer First Class Kristian Saucier and Mark Basseley Youssef (formerly Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, producer of the “Innocence of Muslims” video untruthfully named as the provocation for the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya) and any others in the same circumstances.

MICHAEL S. KRAUSE

Westport, Conn.