Saturday, October 29, 2016

James Comey Acted on His Own in Clinton Email Disclosure, Violated Justice Department Policy

NY Mag ^ | 10/29/2016 | Chas Danner 

According to the New Yorker’s Jane Mayer and the Washington Post, F.B.I. Director James Comey acted on his own when he, 11 days before the election, disclosed on Friday that new emails had been discovered which may or may not be relevant to the agency’s closed investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while Secretary of State. Comey, by informing Congress of the evidence, apparently disregarded the opinions of Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Justice Department officials, who had reminded him of the department’s policy of not commenting on ongoing investigations nor acting in such a way as could influence an upcoming election.
Comey apparently understood we was violating these guidelines, but felt he was obligated to do so because he had promised members of Congress he would inform them of any further developments related to Clinton’s email server misuse, as well as because of the proximity of the impending election. In a letter he sent to F.B.I. employees after alerting Congress of the new evidence, Comey acknowledged that it was unprecedented for him to inform Congress of an incomplete investigation, but explained that:
"I feel an obligation to do so given that I testified repeatedly in recent months that our investigation was completed. I also think it would be misleading to the American people were we not to supplement the record. At the same time, however, given that we don’t know the significance of this newly discovered collection of emails, I don’t want to create a misleading impression. In trying to strike that balance, in a brief letter and in the middle of an election season, there is significant risk of being misunderstood, but I wanted you to hear directly from me about it."
(Excerpt) Read more at nymag.com ...

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