Yesterday, news broke that James Comey was under investigation (again), this time for illegal leaks that occurred in early 2017. This comes on the heels of an IG report showing Comey’s FBI was engaged in rank abuse of power. John Durham, appointed by AG Bill Barr, is currently working that angle.
Now, in order to understand why this is coming out now, you have to pay attention to who is doing the reporting and how they are spinning it. It’s not a coincidence that The New York Times had the scoop. This is obviously being fed to them in order to have them soften the blow, something that’s become standard operating procedure among the FBI in its attempts to cover up for its misconduct.
Breaking News: U.S. prosecutors appear to be scrutinizing whether James Comey illegally disclosed classified secrets, part of an unusual inquiry into years-old leaks that leaves law enforcement officials open to accusations of politicizing their work https://t.co/ZEA82KJYei
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 16, 2020
Compare that to The Washington Post’s story on the matter.
Federal prosecutors explore years-old media disclosure, raising fears Trump is using Justice Dept. for political gain https://t.co/fYhXOKfZV4
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 17, 2020
Notice the buzz-phrase? “Years old” was also repeated by CNN and is a clever way of trying to minimize what Comey is being accused of. Then you get into the article and it becomes clear what these media outlets are trying to do.
The case is the second time the Justice Department has investigated leaks potentially involving Mr. Comey, a frequent target of President Trump, who has repeatedly called him a “leaker.” Mr. Trump recently suggested without evidence that Mr. Comey should be prosecuted for “unlawful conduct” and spend years in prison.
Wait, if it’s without evidence, why is he being investigated? That seems like a rather odd assertion by the Times, but expected given the penchant for always describing anything Trump says as lacking evidence. It’s a game they don’t play with any politician on the left.
But this is the kicker.
The timing of the investigation could raise questions about whether it was motivated at least in part by politics. Prosecutors and F.B.I. agents typically investigate leaks of classified information around the time they appear in the news media, not years later.
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1218012741518209024?s=21
I can’t think of any reason why James Comey didn’t investigate James Comey for committing a crime, can you?
The indication here that the timing means it’s political is complete nonsense. Obviously, Comey is not going to investigate himself. Further, upon his firing, the Mueller investigation started. That froze things in place for almost two years. Comey was a possible witness for Mueller (although he inexplicably ignored the issues surrounding the former FBI Director) and Sessions had recused himself from basically anything that touched corruption at the FBI. He simply wasn’t going to touch those subjects.
With Bill Barr’s appointment, things have changed. New evidence is being dug up, reviews are ongoing, and there’s a criminal investigation occurring as well. The reason this wasn’t investigated when it happened is because Comey and the FBI were hopelessly corrupt. The fact that it’s happening now isn’t evidence of politics being played, it’s evidence that someone is finally doing their job properly.
The DOJ needs to move fast though. There are no guarantees that Trump will be re-elected and any Democrat who gets into office will shut down all these investigations (and the media won’t say a cross word about it supposedly being obstruction of justice). As Mollie says above, it’s obvious Comey was the leaker here and this wasn’t his personal memos. This was a highly classified document. He needs to be held accountable.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member