FBI Director James Comey’s last minute “nothing to see here,” doesn’t make up for the bomb he hurled into the election process ten days ago. All it does is confirm that Comey, far from being a scrupulous guardian of big-J Justice and an exemplar of non-partisan honesty, is an easily-influenced dishrag willing to cause irreparable damage to the nation without a scrap of valid evidence.
For everyone—left or right—who saw in Comey’s unprecedented interference a signal that the FBI must have come across something of extraordinary significance, the final note in this jagged symphony was simply this.
"Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July," Comey wrote in the new letter to congressional committee chairmen.
That may be absolution for Clinton, but it’s a slap in the face for everyone. It’s an admission that the Director of the FBI acted in the most destructive way possible, with no valid cause.
Comey was not “trapped in a bad spot” or forced to issue his Trump-boosting letter. Far from it. He acted against department protocol, against the advice of superiors, against all precedent. That he did so without cause only serves as a reminder that Comey entered this story by going far beyond the confines of his role by issuing his very public July statement in which Comey played detective, prosecutor, and finger-wagging scold. To quote Mr. Fleming ...
Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.
At this point it’s impossible to believe that Comey acted either out of plain ignorance, or ignorance abetted only by poor judgement. The damage generated by Comey holds the critical factor that was not present in the case he was supposed to be investigating—an intent to do harm.
Those who put forward James Comey as Mr. Integrity lean heavily on the mythology of his actions during the Ashcroft era, but many of the positions Comey has taken since assuming the FBI helm have smacked of partisanship. Comey is more interested in perpetuating the fiction of James Comey, justice warrior than he is of holding a truly apolitical position.
It’s not just this issue where Comey has proven to lean right at the slightest provocation. It’s not even the first in which Comey has demonstrated a fondness for operating in the dark and for allowing law enforcement to reach conclusions out of sight of the public.
On multiple occasions, Comey distorted information about abuse of force by police, spreading the idea that operating too openly was damaging law enforcement, even though this contention was not supported by evidence. Even last year, Comey was talking about the “chilling effect” of public accountability.
… Obama administration officials distanced themselves from Mr. Comey at the time. They said they had seen no evidence to support the idea of a “Ferguson effect,” named after the 2014 shooting by a police officer of an unarmed black man in Ferguson, Mo., which sparked widespread protests.
Comey brought the same idea up on multiple occasions.
James Comey, the director, said that while he could offer no statistical proof, he believed after speaking with a number of police officials that a “viral video effect” — with officers wary of confronting suspects for fear of ending up on a video — “could well be at the heart” of a spike in violent crime in some cities.
Comey had “no statistical proof,” that public accountability was interfering with law enforcement, but even so he “believed” that operating without supervision provided for better policing.
James Comey’s idea of law enforcement is one in which it operates away from supervision, or rules, to determine guilt or innocence. Comey also believes that position includes the privilege of standing above the system to act as a critic even when no legal justification can be found. He operates in a void of facts, but out of a wealth of ego.
That’s not just poor law enforcement … it’s the enemy of justice.