Thoughts on the Comey comedy
Power Line - Wednesday July 6, 2016
by Scott Johnson
I sensed an underlying anger in FBI Director James Comey’s remarks as he spoke Tuesday morning. I thought the anger might have come from his having to lay out the facts that warranted charges against Clinton at the time that he felt himself required to issue her a pass. His recitation of factual findings was devastating. I think the anger may also have derived from his understanding of the Clintontian misconduct that his recitation of findings made out. Yet Comey issued Clinton a get-of-jail-free card. The circumstances as Comey understood them put him in the position of making himself look like a fool. He couldn’t have been happy about that either.
Watergate gave us the Saturday night massacre when Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox let himself be fired rather than follow orders from President Nixon. The orders were lawful but Cox disagreed with them in principle. To my knowledge no intelligence officer or defense official or law enforcement officer has resigned in principle in the course of Obama’s presidency. Hillary becomes Evita. Welcome to Banana Republic City.
The Clinton email scandal has given us the Tuesday morning massacre. The renowned pillar of virtue James Comey massacred the rule of law. The rule of law in the United States has withstood many ups and downs in our history. It has not withstood Obama or Clinton. James Comey’s statement puts an exclamation point on its decline.
Comey found it “possible” that “hostile actors” might have accessed Clinton’s email. I think that other findings make it likely. It is possible if not likely that she compromised highly sensitive national security information.
The substance of Comey’s statement was devastating. It was structured to refute the many and bald lies Clinton has told about her server since its use first became public. In “FBI says Clinton claim on reading emails was false,”Michael Scherer recounts a narrow subset of lies with which he and his colleagues at Time had their own close encounter. Comey’s statement exposed the falsity of Clinton’s statements to Time and therefore occasioned Scherer’s article.
Comey’s statement belied every statement Clinton has made about her server. The woman is a pathological liar. We deserve to see the text of the FBI interview of Clinton this past Saturday. Did she stand by her false statements in her meeting with the FBI? Each false statement would be a crime by itself. Let’s see the text of the statement, or the agents’ notes.
Of the many observers who have commented on Comey’s statement, a few have professional knowledge and experience to warrant special attention. I cited Andy McCarthy yesterday. Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey and former United States Attorney Rudy Giuliani should be added to the list.
Mukasey notes the peculiarities of Comey’s statement in the Wall Street Journal column “Clinton makes the FBI least-wanted list.” The column is accessible here via Google. Rudy Giulian also made his views known on FOX News, reported here (video excerpt below). Giuliani also appeared by telephone on CNBC (video here, quotable quote: “I don’t know what Jim is doing”). Mukasey and Giuliani know what they are talking about.
Comey’s supported his recommendation of no prosecution with factors that, if accurate, would have been relevant to the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. Comey wielded awesome power in this case. Hillary Clinton wasn’t the only lady he let skate. He also took Loretta Lynch off the hook. The New York Post captured the takeaway in today’s cover (below).
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