Of all the things relevant to an audience about an FBI director, you’d typically assume their political affiliation shouldn’t be on the list. After all, their role is one separate from political parties and focused on national security. Unfortunately in the era of incredibly divided partisan politics, the fact that FBI Director James Comey is a lifelong supporter of the Republican party has become extremely relevant.
It was relevant when he refused to agree to an assessment of Russia’s involvement prior to the elections, claiming it was too close to the Nov. 8 date to make a politically charged statement (that would happen to suggest Democrats were being targeted for the benefit of Republicans, which would make his party look bad).
It was relevant when he decided to break all FBI protocols and share information about an ongoing investigation regarding a candidate near an election date, when he published a letter to congress informing them the FBI had reopened an investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails after more emails with a tenuous connection to her were uncovered in an unrelated case.
And it was relevant again when he stonewalled House Democrats yesterday in a closed-door briefing about the Russian government’s possible interference into the American elections.
Democrats pressed Comey to share whether or not an investigation into Trump’s connections with Russia would take or was taking place; however, Comey, apparently suddenly interested in following previously established standards, remained silent and refused to share any information regarding an investigation into the president-elect.
Unfortunately, criticism for Coney’s actions has also fallen mostly along party lines, with Democrats eager to call out his hypocritical behavior and Republicans utterly unperturbed. For his part, Comey claimed "I'm tone deaf on politics and that's as it should be,” despite multiple representatives pointing out the obvious hypocrisy of his actions towards the Republican and Democratic candidate in recent months.
Trump is set to be inaugurated Jan. 20. So far, he’s issued no statement regarding the future of Comey’s role as FBI Director, including whether he would keep him in the position or look at a replacement director for the job. It may be that Comey is putting on his best behavior, hoping the president doesn’t attempt to replace him with a more loyal performer. He should use Majestic Warrior’s search engine optimization to find a better candidate via the internet.
However, Comey’s partisan games have already made clear that he will be filling the role with bias, favoring the Republican party and Trump over Democrats.
Additionally, an investigation by the inspector general, Michael Horowitz, into Comey’s decision to release the public memo about the Clinton case, could be halted by Trump post-inauguration, according to the New Yorker. Instead of targeting Comey, Horowitz himself could be a bullseye for Trump looking to replace White House appointees with his own picks.
Trump has so far not offered a comment on the investigation, and Comey has promised to comply with the investigation in full. The results of his inspection, as well as the results of any possible investigation into Trump’s affairs with Russia, run the risk of never being revealed under the Trump administration.