FBI director’s announcement of new evidence in the Clinton probe compounds criticism of his earlier willingness to discuss the case.
.. “I got a lot of respect for Jim Comey, but I don’t understand this idea of dropping this bombshell which could be a big dud,” said former federal prosector Peter Zeidenberg, a veteran of politically sensitive investigations. “Doing it in the last week or 10 days of a presidential election without more information, I don’t think that he should because how does it inform a voter? It just invites speculation … I would question the timing of it. It’s not going to get done in a week.”
.. “It is not the function of the FBI director to be making public pronouncements about an investigation, never mind about an investigation based on evidence that he acknowledges may not be significant,” Akerman added. “The job of the FBI is simply to investigate and to provide the results of its investigation to the prosecutorial arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. His job is not to give a running commentary about any investigation or his opinion about any investigation. This is particularly egregious since Secretary Clinton has no way to respond to what amounts to nebulous and speculative innuendo.”
.. Another former Justice official said Comey’s letter could be part of an effort on his part to quiet internal FBI critics who viewed him as burying the Clinton probe for political reasons.
.. “He’s come under a lot of criticism from his own people for how he’s handled this. He’s trying to gain back some of their respect,” former Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce said. “His ability to do what he does largely depends on the respect within his own ranks. He often does things because he’s trying to prove his bona fides to his rank and file. I think that’s part of it.”
.. The source also said he doubted Comey would call attention to something that was minor.
“Comey’s not that way. He’s a very practical man. It must be something that goes to the substance,” the ex-agent said. “It can’t be cumulative. He’s not a grandstander… It’s not his style.”
.. Comey took part in a showdown with White House officials over an extension of surveillance program instituted after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
.. Ashcroft also refused to sign, leaving Bush in the position of having to act without Justice Department approval or halt the program while it was redesigned. He chose the latter. The episode guaranteed Comey a place in Washington legal lore and helped make him a popular choice for FBI director. He was confirmed by the Senate in July 2013 in a vote of 93-1.
Justice Dept. Strongly Discouraged Comey on Move in Clinton Email Case
“There’s a longstanding policy of not doing anything that could influence an election,” said George J. Terwilliger III, a deputy attorney general under President George Bush. “Those guidelines exist for a reason. Sometimes, that makes for hard decisions. But bypassing them has consequences.”
He added, “There’s a difference between being independent and flying solo.”
.. After hearing the Justice Department’s concerns, Mr. Comey concluded that the ramifications of not telling Congress promptly about the new emails far outweighed concerns about the department guidelines, one senior law enforcement official said.
Under Justice Department policy, restated each election cycle, politics should play no role in any investigative decisions. In Democratic and Republican administrations, Justice Department officials have interpreted that policy broadly, to cover any steps that might give even an impression of partisanship.
James Comey’s October Surprise
.. The statement continued, “Director Comey’s letter refers to emails that have come to light in an unrelated case, but we have no idea what those emails are and the Director himself notes they may not even be significant. It is extraordinary that we would see something like this just eleven days out from a presidential election.”
.. Trump himself, after spending months portraying Comey as a Clinton patsy who inexplicably failed to prosecute his opponent, told a rally in New Hampshire, “I have great respect for the fact that the F.B.I. and the D.O.J. are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made.”
.. although Comey told Congress in July that the Clinton investigation had been completed, it hadn’t technically ever ended. There were still some staffers working on the case, so it wasn’t accurate to say, as Chaffetz had done, that it had been reopened.