2016 Oct 29^th

James Comey, Director of the FBI, is in a very hot seat. Comey has an interesting history and, possibly, a very short future. He was appointed to his position by President George W. Bush and re-appointed by President Obama. He was a Republican for many years but is no longer a registered Republican. No one knows if dropping his Republican party registration is an astute career move given his position in a Democratic administration or if it the result of disgust with the Republican’s nomination of Donald J. Trump for President. Comey isn’t saying and as far as I know no one has asked him.

Comey had served as an assistant to Attorney General John Ashcroft during the second Bush administration. Ashcroft had denied a request by White House insiders, Alberto Gonzales, then White House counsel and Andrew Card, Bush’s Chief of Staff, to re-authorize the wiretapping requested by the National Security Agency. Ashcroft was hospitalized with pancreatitis at the time and was a very sick man. Who cared if Ashcroft was sick? Gonzales wanted Ashcroft’s signature permitting NSA to prowl about in citizen’s affairs without a warrant and so they came calling.

Comey was the Deputy Attorney General at the time and given that Ashcroft was indisposed, Comey could have signed off on the request. He did not. He and some other J.D. officials got to the hospital to support Ashcroft. Subsequently the White House re-authorized the program without the support of the Justice Department and many letters of resignation were written and ready to be submitted. When Bush learned of this, he backed down and the troublesome sections were reexamined and eventually modified. Comey, at least on that occasion, showed himself to be a man of principle. (As a footnote, John Ashcroft, once he recovered and left office founded a very lucrative lobbying firm.)

There is considerable debate about the wisdom of Comey’s decision to announce his new “evidence” at this time. The Clinton team is furious and the Trump team is ecstatic. Of course the Trump team has very little to be ecstatic about, although the denial of reality does help, “All the polls show that we're winning.” Not really, although the ability to deny reality is always a big help. The esteemed 538 website that combines data from many sources does have the Clinton lead shrinking…from an 88.1 percent chance of victory about a week ago to an 80.6 percent chance this evening. Nobody is going to bet the farm on Trump’s chances based on that change. The chances of Democrats taking the Senate are 72.6 percent and holding steady.

Comey’s decision to talk about this new information was not well received by his Justice Department colleagues. Here are some comments:

While there was no explicit order not to send the letter, department officials expressed concern that what Comey wanted to do was contrary to how the department does business given how close this was to the election. They added it was contrary to department policies and procedures, one law enforcement source said.

Comey decided to disregard their concerns and sent the letter Friday anyway, shaking the presidential race 11 days before the election and nearly four months after the FBI chief said he wouldn't recommend criminal charges over the Democratic nominee's use of the server.

I guess Comey does as he pleases.