Former FBI Director and now private citizen, James Comey, was the star attraction on Capitol Hill last week with Democrats suddenly his biggest cheering section. President Trump’s opponents now see Comey as the paragon of virtue when less than six months ago they were calling for his ouster.
When Hillary Clinton wanted Comey gone, mainstream media pundits were more than supportive of her calls for his ouster. When President Trump did more than talk about putting an end to Comey’s stint as the Director of the FBI those same “journalists” see him as a most credible witness.
As Democrats and John McCain at the recent Senate hearings focused on President Trump’s non-existent collusion with the Russians, others are finally questioning James Comey and his track record.
Of course, the usual players see nothing but smoke when there is no fire.
Domenico Montanaro of NPR saw possible obstruction of justice in the Trump White House reporting that James Comey laid out a solid case for obstruction.
The New York Times praised Comey’s testimony as “humble, folksy and matter-of-fact.”
Evan Osnos of the The New Yorker wrote, “This was not a political partisan tossing off a criticism of a rival; this was a career prosecutor, who served Republican and Democratic Presidents, presenting a timeline of specific statements from the President that he described as either untrue or potentially criminal.”
One of the few media outlets that pointed out that James Comey has a long history of prosecutorial excess and bad judgment is the Wall Street Journal. As early as 2013 the Journal described Comey’s “media admirers” as those who refused to ask him tough questions.
“Any potential FBI director deserves scrutiny since the position has so much power and is susceptible to ruinous misjudgments and abuse. That goes double with Mr. Comey, a nominee who seems to think the job of the federal bureaucracy is to oversee elected officials, not the other way around, and who had his own hand in some of the worst prosecutorial excesses of the last decade.”
There are many examples of what is at best poor judgment when it comes to James Comey and obstruction of justice cases. Consider the trail Comey has left behind him.
Frank Quattrone – Comey pursued the banker relentlessly on banking related charges without success. When evidence did not present itself, Comey accused Quattrone of obstruction of justice over a single ambiguous email.
Martha Stewart – The original investigation of Stewart was for insider trading but Comey didn’t even go for that charge. Her conviction was for “obstruction of justice.”
Steven Hatfill – The FBI bungled its investigation into the post 9/11 Anthrax attacker with the actual case being thrown out by the courts.
Scooter Libby – Comey gave Patrick Fitzgerald, his close personal friend, the role of special counsel into the investigation of the leak of Valerie Plame’s identity as a CIA employee. When no evidence was found Comey’s FBI not only didn’t shut down the investigation but extended it for three years. The one indictment Comey managed was “obstruction of justice”.
Hillary Clinton – Comey decided not to pursue charges against Clinton because he said he didn’t believe she had intent. The man who made a law enforcement career out of obstruction charges failed to see any such obstruction in Clinton’s wildly contradictory sworn statements.
Comey got a pass with the media a decade ago and nothing has changed. Comey claims his initial motivation to leak information was President Trump instructing him not to leak. But the New York Times ran a story a full day before that meeting between Comey and Trump with the headline, “In a private dinner, Trump demanded loyalty. Comey demurred.”
Comey’s claim regarding the notes he kept before leaking are inexplicable. He lied about not keeping notes concerning his meetings with George Bush, never kept notes on Barack Obama, and kept notes on Trump because he believed him to “be a liar from the beginning.”
In his statement, Comey said he viewed his notes about his meeting with President Trump as personal property even though they were recorded on a classified computer in a government vehicle following a meeting with the President of the United States. He could not produce those notes but had no problem leaking their contents to a friend to give to the New Times.
Comey’s history should lead honest reporters to ask who the real obstructer of justice is.
~ American Liberty Report
