The Director of the FBI was fired. Since this has only happened twice in the nation’s history, it is a newsworthy event. Unfortunately, being newsworthy has attracted the media storm, and there is no surer or faster way to obfuscate a simple situation.
The media has confused and distracted from every possible angle making it difficult to understand exactly why Comey was fired. In an attempt to get to a little truth, we’re going to take a hard look at Comey’s career as FBI Director and weight Trump’s decision. You’ll find that Comey was actually far worse than your expectations, and in the end Trump did right by America with this decision.
Loretta Lynch
Any analysis of Comey’s tenure with the FBI should probably start here. While the shadiness of her interactions with Hillary Clinton and subsequent investigations is reasonably documented, Comey’s side of the story is less public. Private statements made by Comey have been released.
He was quoted saying “[Lynch] was trying to cover for Clinton.” Despite his misgivings, he never pursued action on the matter. He could have easily sought her recusal without making it a political issue, and eventually Lynch made public concessions.
Clearly there was at least a conflict of interest, but Comey had no intention of pushing for an unbiased investigation. Despite her obviously illicit meeting with Bill Clinton and countless evidence that Lynch was corrupting the probe, Comey left it alone, and she was never actually removed from the decision-making process.
Information Handling
One might think that the director of the FBI would understand the importance and application of discretion. Comey has not lived up to that expectation. In multiple instances he has been the source of information leaks and protocol breaches. Even recently he leaked information regarding his dinner with President Trump, and that is only the tip of the iceberg. If for no other reason, these leaks gave the president no choice when it came to firing Comey.
Unfortunately, Comey went farther than just leaking information. He provided false testimony to Congress while under oath. He gratuitously misquoted the number of classified emails under review in Clinton’s case, and he used that false report to justify taking political action.
Even after leaving his post he continues to spread false information. The “Comey memos” cited by the New York Times may not even exist. The story claims that Comey recorded being asked to drop the Russian investigations, but when the sources were verified by third parties, they couldn’t produce any such memo. Furthermore, recording protocol provided by the White House is unable to corroborate a number of claims that appear in these alleged memos.
In time, they may turn up in an investigation, but their physical absence so far is very suspect. Even if they do emerge, there reliability will be as tainted as the reputation of the man who wrote them.
Politics
The worst aspect of Comey’s failures is political. He used his position to politicize the FBI far beyond anything seen before, and it came back to haunt him. Can you find another example of an FBI director corrupting an investigation and then trying to strongarm the judicial branch into dropping everything?
If that wasn’t enough, he publicly reopened the case that he himself abandoned at a time that was clearly timed to affect a major election. Regardless of the outcome, there is no question that Comey was testing the limits of his political clout. He seemed to conveniently forget that the FBI is supposed to be a neutral agency.
If he hadn’t gone so far, he might have had an opportunity to leave the bureau with some dignity. Instead, he made his position a political statement, and he backed Trump into a corner. Draining the swamp requires action, and Comey made it unmistakable that he was an integral part of the swamp as a whole. Now, instead of leaving with honor and maintaining a career, Comey will be disgraced in the political backlash of this overblown situation.
It’s easy to assume that Trump made his decision from a personal stance. But, if you remember that Trump’s success isn’t tied to a political career (that is only months old), you can see that he is the only major player in Washington with the freedom to treat Comey objectively.
A review of the facts show that Trump only had one reasonable options. He had to fire the man who had abused his position, broke laws and corrupted the primary branch of federal law enforcement.
~ American Liberty Report
