In the late 18th century, famous French revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre once said, “Crime butchers innocence to secure a throne, and innocence struggles with all its might against the attempts of crime.” More than 200 years later, the daunting truth behind Robespierre’s words must now frighten a lot of Americans today after this past Tuesday, July 5, when the FBI released a statement denouncing all criminal charges against one of the most controversial political figures in U.S. history.

It is only another four months before the next presidential election. In four months’ time, Americans will be faced with the crucial decision of which running candidate will ultimately take the seat of the free world for the next four years. Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, currently holds a comfortable lead against her opponent and the Republican nominee Donald Trump. The former Secretary of State’s battle for the White House has been shrouded by a long line of controversies, not the least of which has been her over-exploitation of super delegates, which proved decisive in knocking out of the race the Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, her only dangerous adversary in the bid for the Democratic ticket. However, nothing else has complicated Hillary’s reputation more than her long history of ambiguity in politics.

From same-sex marriage to Wall Street, Hillary’s constant flip-flopping on serious issues in America has only left American voters bewildered on where she truly stands as the dominant choice for the United States’ first woman president. The most obvious smudge on Mrs. Clinton’s career, however, has been the infamous “email scandal.” This controversy, which has hounded Hillary throughout her presidential campaign, goes back to March 2015 when it was finally made public that, two months after beginning her tenure as Secretary of State in January 2009, Hillary started using her own private email account for communication purposes and holding classified federal information—in spite of repeated suggestions from the State Department advising her not to do so. Within that six-year time frame, Mrs. Clinton’s private server has allowed millions of government files to be hacked by foreign heads of state—namely those who are expressly against the United States as a sovereign nation and a member of the international community. Thanks to a database known as WikiLeaks, however, most of these emails were recovered and intercepted by the FBI for close study.

At this point, Hillary’s latest escape from conviction in yet another public hearing isn’t what crawls up my skin. For me, the final straw is the fact that the FBI Director James Comey, despite emphasizing that no charges will be pressed against the former Secretary of State, has the gall to admit in the same breath that Hillary’s actions were (and I quote) “extremely careless.” It’s the fact that, while Comey decided to give Mrs. Clinton nothing more than a light slap on the wrist, in the same action he gave American democracy nothing less than a heavy-handed slap in the face – and, of all the times to announce it, it had to happen just after the nation’s celebration of its 240th Independence Day! According to Comey, the decision to not indict Hillary was the only defensive position standing between himself and the unemployment line.

However justified he tried to phrase the situation, it was no excuse to defend someone whose reckless behavior whilst carrying sensitive government material and putting America’s national security on red alert. Comey not only shot himself in the foot by mixing the words “extremely careless” into a statement that basically lets Hillary off the hook; on a much larger scale, his contradicting rhetoric has effectively defeated the sole purpose of the FBI. As a “federal bureau of investigation”, it is that organization’s job to protect all ranks of the country’s sociopolitical hierarchy from the government officials to the working-class citizens. And yet, with Hillary, the FBI could barely muster the stomach to do just that! Of course, this isn’t the first time the FBI has failed miserably at its job. Remember Omar Mateen, the direct perpetrator of the Orlando shooting? Thanks to the FBI’s shabby performance, the radicalized terrorist and follower of ISIS was put in the clear after ten months of being shadowed by the government, and as a reward, was able to legally purchase the assault weapon with which he proceeded to kill or maim more than a hundred people!

Clearly, something needs to change. If Hillary can get away with her actions, but still be called out for being “extremely careless” in those same actions, there is a problem. Director Comey and others who were responsible for not punishing Mrs. Clinton accordingly are obviously not the kind of people who should be put in charge of the FBI. Because of their feckless management of the situation, Hillary has been left free to keep bolstering her campaign for the election season this November. The FBI hearing was, perhaps, this country’s last hope to bring Mrs. Clinton’s reckless behavior to justice. Unless new developments can arise within the next four months (which, by this point, I have almost no confidence will happen), nothing can stop Hillary from building the momentum she needs to secure her advantage in the race for the presidency—a momentum that has recently been strengthened by the endorsements of President Obama and, most shockingly, Senator Sanders.

When will this kind of special treatment which Hillary has received time and again reach its limit? My belief, and great fear, is that there is no such force powerful enough to throw Mrs. Clinton off her high horse. That is, unless, she can be stopped by Trump in the coming election this fall. Even Hillary is not what aggravates me the most about the results of the hearing. My greatest concern is this: If the FBI could not stand up for the American people when the opportunity was ripe for the taking, then how can they ever be trusted again when it comes down to standing up for democracy?

Whatever the case, I’m sure Mrs. Clinton can sum up everything that’s happened in the past week in just a few, notorious words: "What difference, at this point, does it make?"