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Clinton Anticipates Election Night Victory by Organizing Fireworks Show

Hillary Clinton
AP
November 1, 2016

Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has already been planning her election night victory celebration over the Hudson River in New York City.

The Democratic nominee appears to be anticipating a win on Nov. 8 as her team is preparing a massive fireworks display and telling New York law enforcement officials and the Fire Department to get ready now, the New York Post reported.

Law enforcement officials and the FDNY have been told to prepare for a barge-launched pyrotechnic display off Manhattan's Javits Center, where Clinton and running mate Tim Kaine will join their supporters for the Nov. 8 vote count, sources said.

The aerial detonations would last for two minutes, with the triumphal celebration permitted to start as early as 9:30 p.m.–a mere half-hour after the polls close in New York, sources said.

Clinton's plan for lighting up the sky, however, was sketched out before the FBI reopened its probe into Clinton's use of a private email server. FBI Director James Comey sent a letter to members of Congress on Friday notifying them of the development after investigators found a massive cache of emails on a laptop they believe was used by top Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her estranged husband, former Congressman Anthony Weiner. Officials were separately investigating Weiner's alleged sexting with a 15-year old girl in North Carolina when they discovered emails relevant to the Clinton probe.

Since Comey's announcement on Friday, Donald Trump has surged in the polls, with the Real Clear Politics average showing Trump trailing Clinton by just 2.2 percent on Monday.

According to an FDNY memo obtained by the Post, the Clinton campaign sent out an order on Friday, the same day as Comey's announcement, for the department's Marine 1 company to provide protection during the fireworks show on election night. The memo also reveals that Clinton's campaign hired Garden State Fireworks to put on the show.

New York City cops and firefighters were blown away by what they called Clinton's arrogance in planning the fireworks display, the Post reported.

"It's a little presumptuous of her to plan on winning. I guess she put in for this before Friday," one NYPD detective said.

Others said the actual election results could put a damper on things, but one firefighter raised the specter of a 2000-style recount and added, "So what's she going to do, put the fireworks on ice?"

Another source wondered: "If she loses, will she take it over to the East Side and sell it to Trump for half-price?"

A retired firefighter said the FDNY's "rank and file is outraged they are being forced to do political work."

"This will make it seem like the firefighters endorsed Hillary," the source said.

Trump will also be holding his election night party in New York City, which concerns law enforcement authorities as they worry about feuds between the candidates' supporters.

"We've seen during the campaign that there have been fights at rallies across the country," a law enforcement official noted.

The Clinton campaign did not respond to the Post's requests for comment.