FBI Director James Comey; His Termination; Justified: Yes

I have some comments regarding the sudden termination of James Comey, FBI Director.  It seemed pretty clear that Director Comey had to go.  I do not, however, agree with the manner in which he was given his walking papers.  Ham-fisted.  You just don’t treat people that way.  But the President just doesn’t seem to get it.

I understand why a President, any President, under the given circumstances, would have ‘fired’ Comey.  The Director seems to have let his ego overwhelm his judgement.  I listened to all of his recent testimony before the Senate Committee; and it made me cringe.  He was loving the limelight, basking in the attention.  It was too obvious.  His statement, in consideration that he might have influenced the Presidential election in some way, had made him “mildly nauseous,” well he made me mildly nauseous.  An FBI Director simply does not talk that way.  My opinion.

Now, I must say that Comey, as I understand it, was fairly well liked in the Bureau.  Generally speaking, most who have worked with him consider him to be a good and decent man – intelligent, personable, and well versed in the law.  But those qualities do not necessarily make a good Director of the FBI.

His inevitable downfall began with his ‘prosecutive opinion’ regarding Hillary Clinton.  At that point, he apparently decided to assert his primacy over the Attorney General’s Office which is, theoretically at least, his superior.  His determination that Hillary Clinton should not be prosecuted – after describing in some detail how she was undoubtedly in violation of Federal Law – was something of a shock to those who have worked in federal law enforcement.  He stated that there was no indication of “intent.’  When the relevant statutes protecting classified information do not, for the most part, require establishing ‘intent.’  Hillary Clinton violated the law – pure and simple.  Comey should have turned that information over to the Department of Justice for them to make the decision as to whether or not they were willing to prosecute, and if not why not.

Summation:  Hillary Clinton was either ‘off the chart’ ignorant of how to handle classified information, or she purposely defied the law – feeling, I suppose, that she was above the mundanity of such laws.  I believe the latter.

After exonerating her, Comey was later trapped attempting to explain to Congress and the American public why the FBI had to reopen the investigation of Hillary, and her errant emails, right before the Presidential election.  The Weiner computer.  Whoops.  Last straw.

And, what was the genesis of all this?  Well, of course, it was the private meeting of the Master Manipulator Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the tarmac where, according to Lynch, they discussed grandchildren and golf.  How stupid do they think we are?

Sorry Mr. Comey but you allowed yourself to become collateral damage of that meeting.  It’s best that you move on.

True Nelson