James Comey “was shown to be a scoundrel, a liar, a leaker, all of these things”
“He was a completely manipulative personality. He’s exactly what you would never want in an FBI director”
In the aftermath of the Department of Justice Investigator General Report on James Comey, I commented that James Comey was the Bad Guy in the ‘Russia Collusion’ story
I had a chance to expand on that concept during a radio interview with Jack Riccardi on KTSA, San Antonio:
Jack Riccardi: The IG report on Jim Comey and his memo misuse out today, We’re joined on our KTSA window world newsmaker line by a law professor William Jacobson, who also is the publisher of legalinsurrection.com. And I got to tell you, professor, I got to hand it to this guy. I mean, this report wrecks him, but he comes out of it with a tweet saying, ‘I’m ready for my apologies now.’
William Jacobson: Yes, he’s really a piece of work, I mean, he’s not going to jail for this. Okay. That is certainly something that, you know, he can say, but he can’t really say much else. I mean, he was shown to be a scoundrel, a liar, a leaker, all of these things. But because he didn’t leak classified information, he’s not gonna get prosecuted. But that’s about the only good thing you can say in this report about James Comey is, he’s not gonna go to jail.
JR: Uh, but I mean, other than that, careless, reckless, revealed a confidential source. Used these memos in a manner that was not professional and was personal. I mean, the report even says you did this, out of personal reasons.
WAJ: Right. He was [a] completely manipulative personality. He’s exactly what you would never want in an FBI Director. And he used his power to try to get his way. He manipulated everything this report makes clear in order to get a special prosecutor. This great national nightmare we went through of the Bob Muller investigation, which ended up with nothingburger, was all because of James Comey. He manipulated people. He leaked his memos to the press. He did all of this.
This is a bad guy. I mean, if there’s any doubt, this is a bad, bad guy. He may not be a criminal in the eyes of the government, but this is nobody who should be holding his head up high. And of course, he’s made a fortune off of this with his book sales and speaking tours.
* * *
I think that was the big thing, is that he didn’t leak classified information and therefore we presume that’s why Department of Justice decided not to prosecute.
But let’s face it, there is a double here. If any other FBI agent had done what he did, they would have found a way to prosecute that person just like they found a way to prosecute Michael Flynn and all these other [people], Martha Stewart and all these other people. If they want to get you, they get you. And there is enough here that if it wasn’t James Comey. If it wasn’t their buddy James Comey, it was some regular FBI person or some FBI person they thought might be favorable to Donald Trump, you better believe that person would have been prosecuted. So this is a stain not just on James Comey and the FBI, but also frankly the Department of Justice.
JR: Any insight or any sense of where the McCabe a thing is going? He’s gone to work for CNN, but he could still face charges, right?
WAJ: He could. I think at this point, after Hillary wasn’t charged, after James Comey wasn’t charged. I mean, what does it take to get charged if you’re somebody who’s in with the political crowd at the FBI and the Department of Justice. We do have a different Department of Justice, but the career people are still the career people. And even though you have a Trump nominated and appointed Attorney General, they’re not being overly aggressive. But I got to believe, if it was Eric Holder there and it was a Republican in James Colome’s position who had done something negative to Obama, I think they would have found a way to prosecute. And I think that’s really the big takeaway here is that people like Hillary and James Comey get away with it and everybody else gets prosecuted.
JR: No, well said. And a always read [email protected]. Professor Jacobson. Thank you this afternoon. We appreciate it. Great. Take care.
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Comments
I really hope Comey, McCabe and all the others involved in Spygate get charged. They essentially colluded with each other to try and bring down a President illegally. Otherwise we are going to see the cracks caused by the belief that there are two justice systems in America get even deeper.
I hope this IG report which only covered Comey’s handling of the memos he wrote and nothing else are the only thing he skates free from in regards to the consequences.
I hope that I really win the lottery, and my hope has a better chance of becoming reality than does yours
Sadly, you’re probably right.
Which is why I also bought a ticket.
you want to know why people like comey always get away with the things they do? if they didn’t the same thing would happen to republican politicians. so only the non-politicians like roger stone or gen. Flynn go to jail.
The “he” is really a larger “they” that share the same mindset. It takes more than one to make this operation functional. I agree that such people are extremely dangerous. However, up until now, there has been no real downside for such abuses. Unless something else is brewing that is bigger and more encompassing, Comey is a signal to the rest that nothing is going to happen…nothing. Does Comey and the likes have “dirt” on many inside the beltway that makes this reality? The do-nothing appearance suggests a mutually assured destruction standoff.. no one daring the pull the trigger on either side.
If any other FBI director had done this to a *Democrat* president, he would have been in jail faster than a jackrabbit.
I’d dub this greasy snake “Darth Comey,” for his Palpatine-like skills at manipulation, mendacity and deceit, but for the fact that it would come across as a compliment.
too bad mule-er cannot be charged with obstruction.
it was apparent that he has dementia to some degree!
The collusion operators codenamed their operation “Obama”.
WSJ said the same thing. Creep.
lineman’s pliers, WD-1 wire and various signals, streetlights and signs… some assembly required.
we are well past any simple solution to this treasonous attack, given the failure to prosecute the various felonies to come forward the last 4 years or so.
there is no “nation of laws” to rely on, and they obviously want to incite another Civil War.
If there really are honest career agents at the FBI and the DOJ, they would have marched upstairs and arrested people.
Yes. That is how it works because that is their job.
Instead, the crooked agents at the FBI, like Page and Strzok, were the ones who rated Comey’s secret Classified memos as Confidential. They, gave him a free pass.
Do you have reason to believe the memos ought to have been classified?
Some of the material was classified when the FBI finally got a look at the memos, and there were redactions in some. The IG report makes that clear.
You don’t charge a drive-by shooter with:
1. No seat belt.
2. Failing to stop at a stop sign.
3. Driving across lane delineators etc. etc. etc.
You charge the big crimes:
1. Murder.
2. Attempted murder etc. etc.
The best part of all this (so far):
***Comey detailed his conversation with the president during a dinner with Trump at the White House on January 28. “I said I don’t do sneaky things, I don’t leak, I don’t do weasel moves,” Comey wrote in the memo, promising that he would “always tell him the truth.”***
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/04/19/before-he-was-fired-james-comey-told-trump-i-dont-leak-i-dont-do-weasel-moves/
james comey is a sneak, a leaker, a weasel, and a drive by shooter.
Claiming the opposite? Very alinskyite of him.
He’s a sneak, a leaker, a weasel, but none of those are crimes.
Let’s see what we have so far. Comey is not prosecuted for criminal intent! Every Republican (a.k.a., a true conservative, which excludes RINOs (a.k.a., zombie Demoncrats)) are prosecuted for any little infraction. So far, the DOJ has let every Demoncrat walk! Hittliary, Obammy, Brennen, clapper, Lynch – etc, etc, … Looks like the DOJ and FFI are protecting all the Demoncrat deep staters. Hopefully, the illegal FISA warrants will provide enough to prosecute.
Then there is a factual look at the entire issues surrounding the missing facts from the IG Report. Trump’s persecution of the former FBI chief is known far and wide so whatever happened – Trump caused the problem.
Marcy Wheeler reaches this valid conclusion:
“But to make that case [that Comey is guilty of retaining memos that constitute official records], the inspector general would first have to establish that it is part of the FBI director’s official duties to let the president interfere in ongoing investigations. Needless to say, it has not done that.
Instead, the report provides compelling proof that Comey is a hypocrite and a grand-stander, while dodging the critical question of what the Justice Department can do in the face of the president’s ongoing efforts to dismantle the protections on its investigative integrity.”
The FBI director works for the president; his orders are not “interference”, they are direction, and to disobey them is insubordination. If Trump wanted to stop the investigation into Flynn he could have simply told Comey to drop it. Either he didn’t really want the investigation stopped, or he didn’t realise he could do that, or he wanted not to interfere but only to put in a word for Flynn and then leave it to Comey’s judgment. Whichever, Comey had no business discussing it with anyone.
Just thinking out loud but I am hoping that Barr’s deciding not to prosecute Comey (at this point anyway) is an indication that this episode is only the tip of the iceberg and not that Barr is compromised like seemingly everyone else.
I’ve grown so cynical about the corruption of our government that I gave come to believe this will end up with an international Nuremberg-type trial. So maybe Comey, as repulsive as it feels right now, is allowed to skate on this issue alone so as to avoid getting bogged so early in the process? Imprisoning the Comeys, Brennans, Strocks, etal would feel good for now but fail to address the much bigger problem.
So could it be that the co-conspirators are being exposed at this point to set up the international conspiracy case? It sure seems to me that imprisoning Comey over Hillary’s e-mails could hamper the bigger international case. We Americans aren’t the only ones who’ve had their freedom usurped by deep-seated corruption. It’s all one big case. Comey, Brennan, Strock etal… will get their due eventually but now is not the time.
In retrospect, Bush41’s the “New World Order” has unfolded like a global conspiracy corrupting governments universally while enriching the politicians and their cronies. It won;t take long for everyone to figures it out for themselves if we keep parading the criminals and their crimes in public such as what just happened to Comey. Rxpose these guys early to discredit them and keep them corralled for later prosecution? Is that what is going on here? At some point, I would expect the UK to start exposing their own part in this conspiracy. The international part is the “big fish”.
Keep in mind the Nuremberg international tribunal took almost 5 years to conduct 13 individual trials and didn’t have to prove that crimes were committed nor that their was an international conspiracy involved. Those trials occurred in the rubble of a world war because the right side won the war whereas today, the free world is being defeated without fighting a war. It feels like being strangled to death. Are the co-conspirators going to succeed in strangling us or we them?
We are going to need to see a few of these guys put in prison soon in order to shore up our faith but getting to the Clinton/Obama/Bush/Russia/China phase is critical. We an deal with the Comeys later.
Your optimism is admirable.
From your keyboard to god’s ears.
Burma Shave.
I am not optimistic. I am just trying come up with a rational explanation for what we are seeing. I see the main barrier as a psychological one, the fact that we simply cannot use the word “conspiracy” EVER to describe what is obviously a conspiracy. Being labeled as a conspiracy theorist has become even worse than being called a racist or white supremacist. Everyone just shuts up or starts using euphemisms and finally sentences and paragraphs that begin with “I am not a conspiracy theorist but…” rather than simply using the term itself.
At some point, we have to commit to using the correct words to describe the obvious before we are reduced to babbling mush. It took forever to find a way to actually begin using the accurate “communists and socialists” labels. And after chastising Obama relentlessly over his refusal to use the term “Islamic terrorists”, we’ve stopped using it ourselves.
Courage has to start somewhere. Why can’t we rid ourselves of our fear of being called names? If our feet feel like they are stuck in concrete, it’s because we pour the concrete ourselves.
Agree with everything you say – but, maintain that you’re an optimist.
Few understand history.
Fewer comprehend Stalin and references to ‘1984’ are tossed out with a frightening naivety.
Most people are comfortable with their hypersensitivity and ignorance.
Yes, courage is a good word — but a word that will probably be removed from the dictionary of the future.
There is always hope.
Pasadena Phil: So maybe Comey, as repulsive as it feels right now, is allowed to skate on this issue alone so as to avoid getting bogged so early in the process? Imprisoning the Comeys, Brennans, Strocks, etal would feel good for now but fail to address the much bigger problem.
That makes little sense. When unwinding a conspiracy, you generally start by catching those lower in the conspiracy, then turning them to catch those higher in the conspiracy.
Sure, if you’re a country lawyer trying to build a case against a small time operator. In our case, it involves pervasive corruption at the highest levels with international involvement. As you can see, witnesses keep disappearing and those who don’t won’t testify. It’s not even clear that “our side” is on our side. This could all be a dog and pony show hoping to just drag everything on and on until we lose interest and don’t care anymore.
I realize you don’t have any feel for these things but doesn’t the smug arrogance of Comey (kind of like you) and the rest tell you something? Comey just got exposed as a crook (as did so many others) and the best he can do is gloat that he isn’t in jail and then demands apologies? Wake up already.
Pasadena Phil: Sure, if you’re a country lawyer trying to build a case against a small time operator.
The method is used for the most complex conspiracies, as well.
William A. Jacobson: “was shown to be a scoundrel, a liar, a leaker, all of these things”
Rather than a scoundrel, Comey seems to be something of a prig, an entirely different thing.
Did Comey lie? About Trump being a target of the investigation?
Comey is certainly a leaker, though he would argue the leak was justified as whistleblowing.
William A. Jacobson: I mean, what does it take to get charged if you’re somebody who’s in with the political crowd at the FBI and the Department of Justice.
Committing prosecutable crimes, which neither Clinton nor Comey did.
Perhaps for Comey, partly due do the conveniently favorable post-leaking assignment of confidentiality.
But with Clinton, we will never know with any certainty unless it is possible to recover DELIBERATELY removed evidence/information.
One thing we are at least learning with greater clarity than before (maybe since Nixon era?) – the higher the rank for the unelected in our government, the greater the privilege, and the less need for honor and integrity.
1A_Rules: Perhaps for Comey, partly due do the conveniently favorable post-leaking assignment of confidentiality.
The assignment of a classification does not mean leaking it is prosecutable; otherwise the government could classify anything they didn’t want the public to know. To prosecute, the government would have to show that the information is “relating to the national defence” and that it would be injurious to the United States.
1A_Rules: But with Clinton, we will never know with any certainty unless it is possible to recover DELIBERATELY removed evidence/information.
Most of the material emails were recovered because they were sent or received from other government accounts. If you are referring to the deletion of emails from Clinton’s server, they were supposed to be deleted automatically after a period of time, but person in charge of the email server had failed to do so, then deleted them wholesale to cover his mistake.
Not clear if you are just trying to show some greater knowledge than most about the details of the server. Your non-sequitur perhaps explains motive for the actions with the server. But it does nothing to address the ethics or legality in the matter.
And since when is leaking classified information in any context not illegal? If it is illegal, it can be prosecuted. The wisdom in prosecuting is another topic. In this case perhaps the nature of the recipients became a big factor in choosing to take no legal action, as they were not the in the media and potentially not likely to further disseminate. Let a desk sitter in the FBI try that, however. Sure sign of rank privilege.
The commie Zach is a paid liar, and it’s job is to come on boards like these and spread propaganda.
1A_Rules: But it does nothing to address the ethics or legality in the matter.
The technician who erased the emails under subpoena invoked his Fifth Amendment rights to not testify concerning his actions. In order to determine whether he had been ordered to do so by higher ups, he was given immunity. He then testified as to the facts recounted above, that the emails were supposed to be deleted automatically after 60 days, he neglected to do so, and when he became aware of the problem, he deleted the old emails wholesale to cover his mistake.
Most of the emails were recovered.
1A_Rules: And since when is leaking classified information in any context not illegal?
The fact of classification alone does not make leaking it illegal, as already explained. That would give government far too much power. To prove a case, the government has to show the information is relating to the national defense and that the person had reason to believe it would be injurious to the United States.
18 U.S. Code § 793
1A_Rules: Your non-sequitur perhaps explains motive for the actions with the server.
And if that is still not clear enough, it was unethical and illegal to erase emails under subpoena. It would have been unethical and illegal to order someone to erase emails under subpoena, but the evidence is that the technician acted alone for his own reasons.
Comey might do well to go easy on the gloating–his days may be numbered–given his character/actions and what he knows(and can reveal)me thinks he’s a prime candidate for an Epstein exit–would not be a surprise in the slightest
“… scoundrel, a liar, a leaker, …”
Boffo resume personal characteristics for CNN and MSNBC.
comey was a scoundrel in the 2013 spy investigation into Dianne Feinstein’s office. after concluding that Feinstein had a spy working for her for twenty years the fbi never informed the American people. Dianne Feinstein never informed the American people, nor did any democrat member of that committee and neither did any REPUBLICAN member.
tommy mc donnell: comey was a scoundrel in the 2013 spy investigation into Dianne Feinstein’s office. after concluding that Feinstein had a spy working for her for twenty years the fbi never informed the American people.
The person was subject to recruitment but not a spy. Nor did he have access to classified information. The FBI concluded that the person never provided any useful intelligence to the Chinese.
he didn’t have access to classified information. how do you know that? the same government agency that never reported the results of the investigation to the American public told you that. you want to believe them that’s your problem.
“how do you know that?”
It doesn’t. It’s a paid commie spreading propaganda.
“The FBI concluded…”
That’s rich. The FBI.
tommy mc donnell: he didn’t have access to classified information. how do you know that?
From the same source that provided the original reporting.
tommy mc donnell: the same government agency that never reported the results of the investigation to the American public told you that.
The FBI doesn’t generally issue reports unless there are charges brought. The person was never charged.
http://www.henrypayne.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/062619_JEdgarComey_COLOR.jpg
This group should be mystery or spy novel writers. The imagination runs wild.