The amount of nonsense written about Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey is staggering.
Democrats allege the firing is proof that Trump is hiding something. So here we go again with absurd allegations and innuendo that Trump conspired with Russia to steal the election from Hillary.
Let’s start with the key question: Was Comey competent?
Competence Timeline
On July 5, 2016, the New York Times reported F.B.I. Director James Comey Recommends No Charges for Hillary Clinton on Email.
On July 7, 2016, Bloomberg reported Comey on Clinton: I See Evidence of Great Carelessness.
On October 28, 2016, just prior to the November election, the Financial Times reported Comey Opens New Probe Into Hillary Clinton’s Emails.
When Should Comey Have Been Fired?
The answer is July 5, by president Obama.
The following May 9 snip from Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein’s Letter to Trump Recommending Comey be Fired will explain.
The subject of Rosenstein’s letter to Trump was “Restoring Public Confidence in the FBI”
The director [Comey] was wrong to usurp the Attorney General’s authority on July 5, 2016, and announce his conclusion that the case should be closed without prosecution. It is not the function of the Director to make such an announcement. At most, the Director should have said the FBI had completed its investigation and presented its findings to federal prosecutors. The Director now defends his decision by asserting that he believed attorney General Loretta Lynch had a conflict. But the FBI Director is never empowered to supplant federal prosecutors and assume command of the Justice Department. There is a well-established process for other officials to step in when a conflict requires the recusal of the Attorney General. On July 5, however, the Director announced his own conclusions about the nation’s most sensitive criminal investigation, without the authorization of duly appointed Justice Department leaders.
Compounding the error, the Director ignored another longstanding principle: we do not hold press conferences to release derogatory information about the subject of a declined criminal investigation. Derogatory information sometimes is disclosed in the course of criminal investigations and prosecutions, but we never release it gratuitously. The Director laid out his version of the facts for the news media as if it were a closing argument, but without a trial. It is a textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do.
Does Anyone Disagree?
If not, then Comey deserved to be fired. President Obama should have fired Comey on the spot. Obama didn’t because he liked Comey’s statement. It later backfired.
Russia Witch Hunt
A call for a probe into Trump’s ties with Russia is beyond absurd.
It would make more sense to investigate Hillary than to go down this Russia conspiracy path.
One More Angle
It’s highly unlikely Trump is involved in election conspiracies of any kind. Such investigations are a waste of time and money.
However, it’s possible Comey acted alone, in a perfectly timed effort to wreck Hillary. Such a scenario is far more likely than the Russia nonsense we have been reading about.
Blame Obama
If Comey is to blame for Hillary losing, take it back to the true source: President Obama’s decision to not fire a clearly inept FBI chief.
