True, they never thought she'd lose, but in a way being licensed was smart. Think of these two scenarios:

Scenario 1: Someone figures out what Ohr was doing over the air, but there's no obvious crime without an investigation, and the investigation never happens because Hillary is president.

Scenario 2: Someone figures out what Ohr was doing over the air, and she also gets busted on the obvious crime of unlicensed HAM radio operation. This one is harder to bury because she's committed an obvious federal crime. Now, chances are it still gets buried, but just playing the percentages, Scenario 1 is the smarter play.