FBI Director James Comey believed that early October was too close to Election Day for the government to announce that the Russian government was trying to interfere in our elections, a second source has confirmed to Huffington Post. Weeks later, of course, Comey relied on much more speculative information in announcing that the FBI had come across emails possibly relevant to the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private server. As Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook says, “It is impossible to view this as anything less than a blatant double standard.” And, as Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon says, “Director Comey owes the public an explanation for this inconsistency.”
It’s unlikely the public will get that explanation any time soon, though, both because Comey doesn’t seem inclined to make his actions make any sense whatsoever and because the Justice Department is trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube, saying it will move quickly on investigations but will not give out any further information while it does so.
Democrats, meanwhile, continue to pressure Comey over Trump’s possible Russia ties:
"It is not fair for [Comey] to stay silent about investigations into election-related hacks," Fallon told reporters. "If the Trump campaign or allies of the Trump camp are being looked at as part of that investigation, he should tell us too." [...]
“Reading Sen. Reid's letter, its obvious that he has been briefed by the FBI on such an investigation,” said Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Moscow under Clinton when she was secretary of state. “When Comey testified last summer, he rightly refused to comment. So, it is an obvious double standard for him to comment on Clinton investigation,” added McFaul, who supports Clinton.
Comey seems comfortable with that double standard, and the Justice Department just seems to want to pretend that Comey never said anything and that all is proceeding as normal. But there’s a week to go until the election, and Comey and the Justice Department need to do better by the American people.
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