DIARRHEA OF THE MOUTH

“The FBI does not comment on ongoing investigations.”

That simple statement is all that FBI Director James Comey owed the public.

That is all he owed the public weeks ago when he publically indicted Hillary Clinton in the press.

That is all he owed the public when he recently decided to look into the emails stored on Anthony Weiner’s laptop computer.

But FBI Director James Comey felt that he owed the public an explanation.  Felt obligated to get out in front of the inevitable leaks. 

So FBI Director James Comey developed a bad case of diarrhea of the mouth; violated decades of protocols and tipped the balance of fairness in a presidential election.

Surely you remember Director Comey’s public statement regarding the FBI’s investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails.  Comey said his department did not find evidence sufficient to warrant prosecution.  He then took it upon himself to offer a laundry list of missteps committed by Secretary Clinton that he categorized as so “reckless” that “anyone in her position should have known to be inappropriate.”

Director Comey said he had not found sufficient evidence to indict Clinton in a court of law.  Yet he took it upon himself to indict her in the forum of public opinion.

Last week Director Comey decided once again to publicize his department’s investigation into Secretary Clinton’s emails. 

Upon learning that a private laptop owned by one of Secretary Clinton’s top advisors held emails tied to Secretary Clinton’s server; the Director decided that those emails were “pertinent” to his ongoing investigation.  He ordered the laptop seized.  Fair enough. 

He then took it upon himself to inform congress in writing of his findings.  A letter sufficiently vague that once leaked to the public could only leave a dark cloud of suspicion hanging over the Clinton campaign.

Once again Director Comey has offered no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.  Yet his actions have called into question the judgement of one of the candidates for President of the United States. 

Am I wrong in thinking that a candidate’s judgement is one of the key factors in deciding who we elect to be our next president?  Am I wrong in thinking that Director Comey has overstepped his significant authority by publically calling into question the effective judgement of one of the candidates for the highest office in the land?

I’ve heard all of the excuses.  That Comey was worried about leaks in the press.  That he was under pressure from the civil war developing with in his ranks.

Too bad.  Comey’s job is not to worry about leaks or how is decisions will play within the rank in file.  His job is to investigate allegations criminal wrongdoing and recommend action to the Justice Department based on those findings.  Period.

I’m not here to defend Hillary Clinton.  I happen to believe that if I were found acting in the manner frequented by Secretary Clinton over decades of her public life that I would have been imprisoned long ago.   But I am not the Director of the FBI.

Apparently Director Comey has found no such evidence.  His job ends there.

“The FBI does not comment on ongoing investigations.”

Director Comey should have left it at that.