'Exoneration statement' another blow to Comey's credibility?
Juan Williams and Mercedes Schapp debate allegation that then-FBI director drafted letter before completing Clinton probe
Newly disclosed evidence that then-FBI Director James Comey began working on a statement to reject criminal charges against former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton months before she and other key witnesses were interviewed by the FBI shows that President Trump was right to fire Comey.
The evidence proves that Trump and his supporters were correct to say throughout the presidential campaign that Washington operates on a “rigged” crony system that serves the interests of the powerful and rewards corporate globalists to the detriment of the American people.
As evidence of the rigged system, voters sided with Trump during the campaign in often citing Clinton’s apparent immunity from consequences regarding her unsavory acts as secretary of state, especially her hidden emails on a private server, as well as corrupt Clinton Foundation dealings.
Given what we learned in recent days about Comey, the investigation he oversaw of Clinton represented the very worst of the rigged process. Instead of acting as an impartial, honest fact-finder on behalf of the American people, Comey behaved like a partisan hack.
The former FBI director’s reprehensible behavior both during and after his tenure surely validates the judgment of President Trump in firing a man totally unfit to oversee our most revered law enforcement agency in our nation.
The new evidence is revealed in a letter sent Wednesday to FBI Director Christopher Wray from Republican Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. The letter is a bombshell, and didn’t get anywhere near the media attention it deserves.
The evidence disclosed by Grassley and Graham comes from the Office of Special Counsel, a government agency that investigated whether Comey violated the law when he was FBI director. The investigation was closed after Comey was fired. The new evidence shows that Comey drafted a memo exonerating Clinton of wrongdoing as early as April 2016, even though Clinton was not interviewed until July 2016.
As Grassley and Graham correctly stated in their letter: “conclusion first, fact-gathering second – that’s no way to run an investigation.”
In fact, after Comey wrote his “nothing to see here” draft absolving Clinton of wrongdoing, the FBI still interviewed a total of 17 key officials. In addition to Clinton herself, State Department Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills, who was appointed by Clinton and served under her, was also questioned. Mills received a very unusual immunity agreement from investigators.
How is it possible that Comey had ascertained, at such an early date, that the evidence would not incriminate Hillary Clinton? Such a prejudicial judgment certainly reveals a shocking level of bias and a dangerous willingness to engage in partisan politics.
Understandably, President Trump reacted to the new evidence with indignation, tweeting Friday: “Comey exonerated Hillary Clinton long before the investigation was over … a rigged system!”
Many Americans had already concluded that Comey’s investigation of Clinton was a sham. The majority in a July 2016 Washington Post/ABC News poll disagreed with Comey’s decision to not seek an indictment against her.
The American people were poorly served by an FBI director who shirked his duty as a public servant. They thankfully delivered their verdict on Clinton’s suitability for the Oval Office at the ballot box last November.
Adding insult to injury, Comey’s deceptive practices extended beyond his FBI tenure. Once he was fired by President Trump, he again showed his true colors by leaking confidential information to the media with the expressed intention of triggering a special counsel investigation
Comey’s pattern of unethical bias, plus his personal ties to Special Counsel Robert Mueller going back many years, seriously tarnish Mueller’s standing.
Donald Trump triumphed in 2016 because he promised to “drain the swamp” in Washington. Sadly, the swamp has proven resilient, from Capitol Hill to James Comey in obstructing the president’s transformational agenda.
In the end, the will of the people must prevail and smash a rigged system that has stolen the dignity and prosperity of Americans.
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