By Florida Bill
The election is over and Donald Trump was the first to reach 270 electoral votes, and thus is the President-elect, no matter how many popular votes Hillary Clinton received or how many of her followers take to the streets in protest. In the midst of this most unusual presidential campaign and election, with his fingers stuck deep in the political fray, is FBI Director James Comey and just maybe he has some explaining to do. It is difficult at this point to determine where Comey stands now that Trump is in charge and Mrs. Clinton is licking her wounds, feeling hurt by the behavior of the director who was appointed to the post in 2013 by Clinton's boss and supporter, President Obama. Comey's term is for 10 years, but there are big questions as to his future. Resignation, I detect, is a real possibility with Trump as the new President, and I sense that he is a man who likes to even scores.
Mrs. Clinton blames Comey for her loss with his on-again, off-again investigations of her alleged mishandling of classified emails. She has said that his conduct in reopening the investigation 11 days before the election, with early voting in full swing, and then calling it off again three days before the November 8 voting, had a deleterious effect on her supporters and reversed her "momentum." It energized Trump supporters, she added in a recent interview. Not surprisingly, former Atty. Gen. Eric Holder agreed that Comey's behavior "impacted" the results.
And now Comey is getting upbraided by Senate minority leader, Harry Reid and other unhappy Democrats, and they want Comey investigated by everyone and anyone who does investigations, convinced that a double-dealing Comey caused Clinton to lose the election. Reid has charged that Comey knew of Russia sneakily hacking Clinton emails which made her look dishonest and passed them on to Wikileaks which them published them. Trump was the benefactor, and Comey is a cuplable party and ought to resign, Reid charges.
In July, after 15 months of investigation into her email use, Director Comey cleared Clinton of any criminal wrong doing. Trump promptly and angrily accused Comey of caving into Democratic pressure. Comey's announcement appeared to put the email question to rest, and Reid commended him for his good work. But then came a whopping surprise. On October 28th, 11 days before the election, Director Comey alerted Congressional leaders in a letter that he was reopening the bureau's inquiry into Clinton's possible criminal conduct, and Trump commended Comey for finally doing the right thing.
But then, three days before the election, in an unbelievable turn around, Comey said that the investigation was concluded and potential new evidence proved meaningless to any Clinton culpability. The evidence to which he referred involved some 650,000 new emails which had been linked to Mrs.Clinton through a connection with the sexually troubled former Congressman Anthony Wiener, the estranged husband of Mrs. Clinton's close aide and friend, Huma Abedin. At that point, Trump retracted his praise of Comey whom he believed had again caved into political pressure from Democrats. At at that turn, both Democrats and Republicans were angry and critical of the FBI Director's handling of these matters.
Considering all of the peculiar about-faces by the head of the world's most trusted investigative agency, I believe that the 55-year-old Comey is now in a sort of limbo, wondering which powerful politician he has ticked off more, and what's ahead for him. Back in the Watergate days of the early 1970s, the Nixon team made interim FBI Director L. Patrick Gray a fall guy and said he should be left "to twist slowly, slowly in the wind." Nixon was unsuccessful in that regard, but now with Trump at the wheel, Comey has to be feeling the breeze.
Comey's background is that of a man who has climbed straight up. He assumed the office of director with fanfare and approbation as a man of integrity who could be trusted to do his job without preordained prejudices. His reputation was "impeccable," As an attorney, and a 1985 graduate of the far left University of Chicago law school, he enjoyed the friendship of President Obama who had been a lecturer at the law school. Striding through Washington's halls of power at a towering 6 feet, 8 inches tall, he carried himself with dignity and the aplomb of an untouchable.
Comey has worked for government for a good piece of his adult life, although he was employed for periods as an associate in a law firm and has held positions as general counsel for a number of large companies and organizations. For a period he served as the United States Attorney from the southern district of New York and from 2003 to 2005 as deputy attorney general, second in power only to the cabinet level Attorney General in the department of Justice.
In February, 2003, Comey led the successful prosecution of Martha Stewart on charges of securities fraud, obstruction of Justice and lying to an FBI agent. "This criminal case is about lying--lying to he FBI, lying to the SEC and lying to investors. Martha Stewart is being prosecuted not for who she is, but because of what she did." Comey explained at a press conference.
Comey critics are hinting that the director possesses a hidden undefined allegiance to Mrs. Clinton and her husband, the former President. That speculation comes from the belief that Comey gave Mrs. Clinton a pass from criminal prosecution despite clear evidence of wrong doing. The use of velvet gloves with the Democratic nominee for president was in sharp contrast to the hammer he brought down on Martha Stewart whose misdeeds appeared less serious from those of Mrs. Clinton's.
Comey also was said to have been overly kind to President Clinton's friend, Sandy Berger, who in 2004, was caught pirating documents from the National Archives by stuffing them into his coat. Some of the purloined documents taken by Berger, who had served as President Clinton's National Security advisor, were destroyed by him fueling speculation that the papers contained information negative to the president's handling of defense matters. "No one will ever know what the destroyed documents contained, but you can bet your bottom dollar that they weren’t Bill Clinton’s secret recipes for chicken a la king," observed Pat Buchanan, a prominent Republican commentator and former Presidential candidate.
During the rather bloody campaign, Trump characterized Mrs. Clinton as "Crooked Hillary" and promised during a debate that if he became President he would pursue prosecution of her for her crimes which the FBI had ignored. Asked about this during a recent interview on 60 Minutes, the President-elect said that he would "think about that."
There also is belief by insiders that the FBI is investigating the Clinton Foundation, established by Hillary and Bill Clinton, concerning allegations made by Trump and others that Mrs. Clinton, while serving as Secretary of State, employed "pay to play" rules as a way of her granting favors to individuals donating to the foundation.
FBI Director Comey's role in the investigations is sensitive after all that has gone on. Fox News' Bill O'Reilly has come down hard on Comey saying that he believes that the FBI chief took a dive on behalf of Mrs. Clinton. "What other explanation is there for these crazy events linked to the campaign." Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a strong supporter of the president-elect, has tweeted that Comey must be under "enormous pressure" to cave the way he has.... "His destruction by political pressure is painful to watch." He has been "twisted into an indefensible pretzel of contradictions." . If Comey's actions contributed to Mrs. Clinton's loss, many conservatives will applaud him. But I feel that his conduct as FBI director was so unusual , confusing and possibly improper that he must explain his behavior.
xxx
And now Comey is getting upbraided by Senate minority leader, Harry Reid and other unhappy Democrats, and they want Comey investigated by everyone and anyone who does investigations, convinced that a double-dealing Comey caused Clinton to lose the election. Reid has charged that Comey knew of Russia sneakily hacking Clinton emails which made her look dishonest and passed them on to Wikileaks which them published them. Trump was the benefactor, and Comey is a cuplable party and ought to resign, Reid charges.
In July, after 15 months of investigation into her email use, Director Comey cleared Clinton of any criminal wrong doing. Trump promptly and angrily accused Comey of caving into Democratic pressure. Comey's announcement appeared to put the email question to rest, and Reid commended him for his good work. But then came a whopping surprise. On October 28th, 11 days before the election, Director Comey alerted Congressional leaders in a letter that he was reopening the bureau's inquiry into Clinton's possible criminal conduct, and Trump commended Comey for finally doing the right thing.
But then, three days before the election, in an unbelievable turn around, Comey said that the investigation was concluded and potential new evidence proved meaningless to any Clinton culpability. The evidence to which he referred involved some 650,000 new emails which had been linked to Mrs.Clinton through a connection with the sexually troubled former Congressman Anthony Wiener, the estranged husband of Mrs. Clinton's close aide and friend, Huma Abedin. At that point, Trump retracted his praise of Comey whom he believed had again caved into political pressure from Democrats. At at that turn, both Democrats and Republicans were angry and critical of the FBI Director's handling of these matters.
Considering all of the peculiar about-faces by the head of the world's most trusted investigative agency, I believe that the 55-year-old Comey is now in a sort of limbo, wondering which powerful politician he has ticked off more, and what's ahead for him. Back in the Watergate days of the early 1970s, the Nixon team made interim FBI Director L. Patrick Gray a fall guy and said he should be left "to twist slowly, slowly in the wind." Nixon was unsuccessful in that regard, but now with Trump at the wheel, Comey has to be feeling the breeze.
Comey's background is that of a man who has climbed straight up. He assumed the office of director with fanfare and approbation as a man of integrity who could be trusted to do his job without preordained prejudices. His reputation was "impeccable," As an attorney, and a 1985 graduate of the far left University of Chicago law school, he enjoyed the friendship of President Obama who had been a lecturer at the law school. Striding through Washington's halls of power at a towering 6 feet, 8 inches tall, he carried himself with dignity and the aplomb of an untouchable.
Comey has worked for government for a good piece of his adult life, although he was employed for periods as an associate in a law firm and has held positions as general counsel for a number of large companies and organizations. For a period he served as the United States Attorney from the southern district of New York and from 2003 to 2005 as deputy attorney general, second in power only to the cabinet level Attorney General in the department of Justice.
In February, 2003, Comey led the successful prosecution of Martha Stewart on charges of securities fraud, obstruction of Justice and lying to an FBI agent. "This criminal case is about lying--lying to he FBI, lying to the SEC and lying to investors. Martha Stewart is being prosecuted not for who she is, but because of what she did." Comey explained at a press conference.
Comey critics are hinting that the director possesses a hidden undefined allegiance to Mrs. Clinton and her husband, the former President. That speculation comes from the belief that Comey gave Mrs. Clinton a pass from criminal prosecution despite clear evidence of wrong doing. The use of velvet gloves with the Democratic nominee for president was in sharp contrast to the hammer he brought down on Martha Stewart whose misdeeds appeared less serious from those of Mrs. Clinton's.
Comey also was said to have been overly kind to President Clinton's friend, Sandy Berger, who in 2004, was caught pirating documents from the National Archives by stuffing them into his coat. Some of the purloined documents taken by Berger, who had served as President Clinton's National Security advisor, were destroyed by him fueling speculation that the papers contained information negative to the president's handling of defense matters. "No one will ever know what the destroyed documents contained, but you can bet your bottom dollar that they weren’t Bill Clinton’s secret recipes for chicken a la king," observed Pat Buchanan, a prominent Republican commentator and former Presidential candidate.
During the rather bloody campaign, Trump characterized Mrs. Clinton as "Crooked Hillary" and promised during a debate that if he became President he would pursue prosecution of her for her crimes which the FBI had ignored. Asked about this during a recent interview on 60 Minutes, the President-elect said that he would "think about that."
There also is belief by insiders that the FBI is investigating the Clinton Foundation, established by Hillary and Bill Clinton, concerning allegations made by Trump and others that Mrs. Clinton, while serving as Secretary of State, employed "pay to play" rules as a way of her granting favors to individuals donating to the foundation.
FBI Director Comey's role in the investigations is sensitive after all that has gone on. Fox News' Bill O'Reilly has come down hard on Comey saying that he believes that the FBI chief took a dive on behalf of Mrs. Clinton. "What other explanation is there for these crazy events linked to the campaign." Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a strong supporter of the president-elect, has tweeted that Comey must be under "enormous pressure" to cave the way he has.... "His destruction by political pressure is painful to watch." He has been "twisted into an indefensible pretzel of contradictions." . If Comey's actions contributed to Mrs. Clinton's loss, many conservatives will applaud him. But I feel that his conduct as FBI director was so unusual , confusing and possibly improper that he must explain his behavior.
xxx
No comments:
Post a Comment