If FBI Director James Comey was not trying to create maximum damage with his brief, vague letter, he certainly gave it a good effort. Not only did Paul Ryan and Jason Chaffetz presciently have (inaccurate) statements ready to go at hand, the statement was issued while Hillary Clinton was still in the air, giving Donald Trump a clear field on which he could break, break, break like the wind.
With Jim Comey under-handing a Day-Glo political football just moments before he stepped on stage, it’s not surprising that Trump lumbered out to show his usual tact and restraint.
The FBI has just sent a letter to Congress informing them that they have discovered new emails pertaining to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s investigation, and they are reopening the case into her criminal and illegal conduct that threatens the security of the United States of America.
Which is … not what Comey’s letter says. At all. Comey’s letter says that, in an unrelated case, they’ve come across emails that appear to be related to the earlier investigation of Clinton’s email server. Comey says he was briefed about the emails on Thursday, and agreed that the letter should be investigated to determine if they have any importance. But Mr. Trump had a sudden Comey conversion...
I have great respect for the fact that the FBI and the DOJ are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake they made.
That’s “lock her up” in the long form.
Comey is not saying that these emails were recovered from Clinton’s server, or from Wikileaks, or … he’s not saying anything. He’s leaving the whole situation infuriatingly vague. Which is … typical. James Comey is not some squeaky-clean outsider. He’s a long time Washington player who knows exactly what he’s doing. There doesn’t seem to be anything in his letter that requires that he blow up this election. The FBI could have looked at these letters first, and issued a statement after if they determined there was a connection to the earlier investigation. They didn’t do that. Like everything else Comey has done in this investigation, he’s gone for maximum grandstanding, minimum respect for legal protections or traditions.