This isn't first election where Clinton gets cleared of criminality

WASHINGTON -- Hillary Clinton can finally breathe a sigh of relief -- she's campaigning for a new political role, and she's learned she can proceed without the threat of criminal charges looming overhead.

Just like 16 years ago.

There's a deja-vu quality to the newest development in this presidential race. It holds uncanny parallels to Clinton's first Senate campaign in 2000 -- and it goes far beyond the fact of her being cleared shortly before an election.

Its events follow a familiar pattern.

Clinton was dogged in both cases by a controversy dating back seven years; it stemmed from a decision made early in her previous role; she'd been suspicious of political rivals being out to get her, and took steps to protect her privacy; she got investigated; she made statements judged misleading; her rivals shifted from one alleged scandal to another, and were accused of overreaching.

Finally when investigators cleared her seven years later, they inflicted political damage during a campaign. They not only poked holes in her credibility but let the public know, in the midst of an election, that they'd considered criminal charges.

This week it was FBI director James Comey and her emails. Back then it was the independent prosecutor's office previously run by Clinton nemesis Kenneth Starr, and the issue started with the firing of seven White House staffers in 1993.

Starr's successor announced during her first senatorial race that he would not seek charges for perjury or obstruction of justice. He said she'd made factually false statements while testifying about her role in the firings at the White House Travel Office.

But he concluded a jury might not convict her.

"The evidence is insufficient to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that ... Clinton (and a colleague) committed perjury or obstruction of justice," said a report from the prosecutor's office.

"(We have) determined not to present an indictment to the grand jury."

The White House Travel Office affair had dogged her throughout her husband's presidency -- it was the first major controversy of the Clinton administration in 1993 and lasted until the end of the administration.

A look at the controversies, then and now.

Privacy

Then: The Clintons feared they were surrounded by political enemies when they entered the White House in 1993. They ordered the phone system rewired to avoid eavesdropping. They had reason to worry. Someone had leaked details of a domestic argument to the press. Some White House workers openly expressed political support for the outgoing president, George H. W. Bush. A few were fired or shuffled out. Around this time the seven-member team handling media travel on presidential trips was dismissed. The reason cited was financial irregularities; one employee was later charged with embezzlement, and acquitted. One White House aide also told the FBI that the first lady, Clinton, wanted them gone because she viewed them as hostile: "She stated action need(ed) to be taken immediately to be certain those not friendly to the administration were removed and replaced with trustworthy individuals."

Now: Clinton says she didn't want people reading her personal messages. Clinton's aides went through her emails to choose which messages to destroy, and which to preserve as federal records from her time as secretary of state. But the main reason for setting up a parallel email system, Clinton has said, was for the convenience of having all messages on one device. This week FBI director James Comey revealed that she actually used multiple devices, and multiple servers.

Cronyism allegations

Then: President Bill Clinton's distant cousin Catherine Cornelius got a job in the revamped travel office. Cornelius removed financial records from the office, as the White House urged the FBI to bring a case against the old staff. A well-established Arkansas-based company that handled travel for the 1992 Clinton campaign also began to set up shop in the White House, but pulled out amid the controversy.

Now: Some media reports have cited sources saying that the family's financial ties were part of the FBI probe. However, the FBI director did not make any mention of that during his public statement this week.

Falsehoods

Then: Hillary Clinton testified that she had no role in the firings. She declared it before Congress, and to the independent prosecutor. The firings were clearly legal. Yet the prosecutor's report said she'd made "factually false" statements under oath, and weighed perjury charges. Different investigations confirmed she'd taken an interest in the process, inquiring into it several times. A White House memo later surfaced in which staff expressed concern she'd get angry if they didn't fire the travel employees. Clinton says staffers over-interpreted her interest in the issue. Ultimately, the prosecutor concluded he couldn't prove an intent to commit perjury.

Now: The FBI director blew up several aspects of Clinton's explanation of the email affair. Comey said 110 of her emails contained classified information; confirmed she'd been under criminal investigation for mishandling classified material; and revealed she'd never turned over several thousand work-related emails -- contrary to what she'd stated.

Tragedy

Then: Her longtime friend and White House aide Vince Foster committed suicide during the travel controversy. An independent counsel report cited people close to the depression-suffering Foster saying the travel controversy was his greatest source of stress.

Now: The deaths of four Americans at Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 led to a congressional investigation which revealed that Clinton had never used government email and set up her own personal system.

Independence Day News Dump

Then: News of the first lady's interest in the travel-office firings was revealed in an internal report by the White House -- distributed on the Friday before a long weekend, often referred to in the media business as a holiday dump of negative news. It was released July 2, 1993.

Now: Clinton's opponent Donald Trump accused the FBI of conspiring to help her politically. No cameras managed to record her entering or leaving the FBI offices last Saturday for her interrogation. The date? Also July 2.

Neverending probe

Then: The Clintons' opponents investigated one scandal, then another, until finally attempting to impeach the president for lying under oath about Monica Lewinsky. Kenneth Starr's initial focus as independent counsel was the Clintons' money-losing Whitewater land deal in Arkansas. During that process, he asked the first lady questions about her role in the travel-office firings. When the final report concluded it couldn't prove perjury, Hillary Clinton's lawyer David Kendall submitted a scathing written response. He said the report was written unfairly to commit one final smear against her, in "a wasteful partisan extravagance."

Now: Democrats complain today about a similar roving witch-hunt. The Benghazi investigations led to the discovery of her non-government email setup, which led to a national-security investigation by the FBI. Republicans are talking about more investigations -- some want the FBI director to testify, and others suggest Donald Trump should re-investigate Clinton if he becomes president.