In July, Comey told us his conclusion, after extensively investigating Hillary’s emails. His team were looking for possible breaches in security and the possible breaking of laws. His conclusion: he and the searches could find no reason to recommend an indictment of Hillary Clinton on any provable charge. That was his duty: to report to the American people.
But he did not execute that duty properly. He went further. He broke a code of never elaborating in detail upon his findings, or on his OPINION of Hillary’s actions. He called her actions “reckless” but not criminal. Comey went too far. Why?
The only answer can be, the ONLY ANSWER can be, that he felt PERSONALLY that she had behaved badly. He had no mandate to say so. No other F.B.I. director had ever gone that far past a curt, official verdict of this kind. Some have suggested that he wanted to assure the world that he saw Hillary’s flawed judgment. WHY? There was no legal justification. There was no threat to the integrity of the F.B.I. There was only his ego, his self-centered presumptuous feeling. THAT FEELING SHOULD HAVE REMAINED PRIVATE.
Comey violated custom, protocol, and decency. His EGO required it. He put himself above the law. He put his ego above fairness.
Ten days before the election, having opened the laptop emails of Anthony Weiner and his wife, Hillary’s personal aide and adviser. Most of the emails there he and his team had already seen. There was nothing pertinent to his investigation of Hillary. Probably a day or two of examination would have corroborated the fact that no NEW details were there. Comey should have kept silent, until he had concluded the examination of those emails.
Instead, Comey sent a letter to Congress, expressing VAGUELY that there might PERHAPS be some new emails pertinent to the Hillary inquiry. He could have dismissed that possibility in a matter of hours or at most, according to experts, a day or two. There was no sound to an alarm.
Comey then announced that there was nothing new in those Weiner household emails. Never mind. We were excited for a minute, but all’s well now. The clearance came too late. The damage to Hillary had been done. The ALL CLEAR couldn’t clear the cloud away from the Hillary campaign.
Comey’s choices: To remain silent until he had drawn his conclusion. Instead, he sent the letter to Congress. Why? To pre-empt a possible leak to the public and to the press? A leak of WHAT?
Supposed he had not covered himself—as the letter was clearly meant to do—and the news of the investigation of another batch of emails did reach the public. It was Comey’s job to conduct his investigation IN PRIVATE. That’s the F.B.I rule—law?—protocol. The proper way to behave. ESPECIALLY IN AN ELECTION YEAR and SO CLOSE TO VOTING DAY.
Why did he do it? I submit that his MOTIVE COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN PERSONAL. I submit that his motive COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN out of his wish (DESIRE?) to influence the election. He could not have been unaware that the letter would do that. He could not have been unaware that the ONLY INFLUENCE WOULD HAVE BEEN TO AID TRUMP and harm Hillary. He should have known that NOT SENDING THE LETTER COULD NOT HAVE BEEN HELD AGAINST HIM, even if some new evidence surfaced later. He WAS NOT OBLIGATED TO ANNOUNCE POSSIBLE NEWFOUND INFRACTIONS. THAT was RECKLESS and IRRESPONSIBLE.
Why did he do it? It must, positively, without a shadow of a doubt, have BEEN A PERSONAL gesture to cause the Hillary campaign distress.
IT SIMPLY WAS NOT justified.
Even if more evidence had come out that could have justified a re-evaluation of Hillary’s culpability in using an unauthorized server, or of having endangered U.S Security, actions against Hillary would have continued.
Therefore: Hillary could not have avoided possible charges, so justice would not have been thwarted.