James Comey’s Obsession with Obstruction Charges
Revealed
Former FBI Director and now private
citizen, James Comey, was the star attraction on Capitol Hill last week with
Democrats suddenly his biggest cheering section. President Trump’s opponents
now see Comey as the paragon of virtue when less than six months ago they were
calling for his ouster.
When Hillary Clinton wanted Comey
gone, mainstream media pundits were more than supportive of her calls for his
ouster. When President Trump did more than talk about putting an end to Comey’s
stint as the Director of the FBI those same “journalists” see him as a most
credible witness.
As Democrats and John McCain at the
recent Senate hearings focused on President Trump’s non-existent collusion with
the Russians, others are finally questioning James Comey and his track record. Of
course, the usual players see nothing but smoke when there is no fire.
Domenico Montanaro of NPR saw
possible obstruction of justice in the Trump White House reporting that James
Comey laid out a solid case for obstruction. The New York Times praised Comey’s
testimony as “humble, folksy and matter-of-fact.” Evan Osnos of the The New
Yorker wrote, “This was not a political partisan tossing off a criticism of a
rival; this was a career prosecutor, who served Republican and Democratic
Presidents, presenting a timeline of specific statements from the President
that he described as either untrue or potentially criminal.”
One of the few media outlets that
pointed out that James Comey has a long history of prosecutorial excess and bad
judgment is the Wall Street Journal. As early as 2013 the Journal described
Comey’s “media admirers” as those who refused to ask him tough questions.
“Any potential FBI director deserves
scrutiny since the position has so much power and is susceptible to ruinous
misjudgments and abuse. That goes double with Mr. Comey, a nominee who seems to
think the job of the federal bureaucracy is to oversee elected officials, not
the other way around, and who had his own hand in some of the worst
prosecutorial excesses of the last decade.”
There are many examples of what is
at best poor judgment when it comes to James Comey and obstruction of justice
cases. Consider the trail Comey has left behind him.
Frank Quattrone – Comey pursued the
banker relentlessly on banking related charges without success. When evidence
did not present itself, Comey accused Quattrone of obstruction of justice over
a single ambiguous email.
Martha Stewart – The original
investigation of Stewart was for insider trading but Comey didn’t even go for
that charge. Her conviction was for “obstruction of justice.”
Steven Hatfill – The FBI bungled its
investigation into the post 9/11 Anthrax attacker with the actual case being
thrown out by the courts.
Scooter Libby – Comey gave Patrick
Fitzgerald, his close personal friend, the role of special counsel into the
investigation of the leak of Valerie Plame’s identity as a CIA employee. When
no evidence was found Comey’s FBI not only didn’t shut down the investigation
but extended it for three years. The one indictment Comey managed was
“obstruction of justice”.
Hillary Clinton – Comey decided not
to pursue charges against Clinton because he said he didn’t believe she had
intent. The man who made a law enforcement career out of obstruction charges
failed to see any such obstruction in Clinton’s wildly contradictory sworn
statements.
Comey got a pass with the media a
decade ago and nothing has changed. Comey claims his initial motivation to leak
information was President Trump instructing him not to leak. But the New York
Times ran a story a full day before that meeting between Comey and Trump
with the headline, “In a private dinner, Trump demanded loyalty. Comey
demurred.”
Comey’s claim regarding the notes he
kept before leaking are inexplicable. He lied about not keeping notes
concerning his meetings with George Bush, never kept notes on Barack Obama, and
kept notes on Trump because he believed him to “be a liar from the beginning.”
In his statement, Comey said he
viewed his notes about his meeting with President Trump as personal property
even though they were recorded on a classified computer in a government vehicle
following a meeting with the President of the United States. He could not
produce those notes but had no problem leaking their contents to a friend to
give to the New Times.
Comey’s history should lead honest
reporters to ask who the real obstructer of justice is. ~ American Liberty
Report
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