Newly released FBI documents confirm that ousted FBI Director James Comey (shown on right) “protected Hillary Clinton,” according to a series of tweets by President Trump. The president’s early-morning tweets on Tuesday are in keeping with previous statements he has made about Comey’s protection of Clinton during her e-mail scandal. The biggest difference this time is that documents from the FBI confirm Trump’s claims.
The documents were released by the FBI on Monday and prove — among other things — that Comey began drafting a letter regarding the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private, unsecured e-mail server and account during her time as secretary of state months before the FBI had interviewed several key people involved. One of the people not interviewed before Comey began drafting his letter was Clinton herself. This means that months before the conclusion of the investigation — which twice ended with Comey publicly refusing to recommend indictment for Clinton’s many and obvious crimes — Comey had already decided that that’s how it would end.
With protection like that, it is no wonder Clinton was never worried about being indicted.
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In fact, The New American reported in October 2016 that a heavily redacted FBI document from August 2015 mentions a group called “The Shadow Government” — made up “of very high-ranking STATE officials” — that was working to protect Clinton. So, Comey’s decision to protect Clinton did not happen in a vacuum. He may have been following “guidance” (if not a direct order) from those higher than him on the totem pole.
It is not known what Comey wrote, since the entire body of the letter — drafted as an e-mail — is redacted in the version made public Monday. The e-mail was dated May 2, 2016, and was sent by Comey to Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, General Counsel James Baker, and Chief of Staff and Senior Counselor James Rybicki.
In releasing the document to the public as part of a Freedom of Information Act request, the FBI entitled it “Drafts of Director Comey’s July 5, 2016 Statement Regarding Email Server Investigation Part 01 of 01.”
After the release of the document Monday, President Trump sent out a series of early-morning tweets Tuesday saying:
Wow, FBI confirms report that James Comey drafted letter exonerating Crooked Hillary Clinton long before investigation was complete. Many..
6:21 AM – 18 Oct 2017
…people not interviewed, including Clinton herself. Comey stated under oath that he didn’t do this-obviously a fix? Where is Justice Dept?
6:27 AM – 18 Oct 2017
As it has turned out, James Comey lied and leaked and totally protected Hillary Clinton. He was the best thing that ever happened to her!
6:56 AM – 18 Oct 2017
The president’s tweets echo his previous claims that Clinton was “being protected by a rigged system.” This time, though, Trump can wave the document at liberal mainstream reporters if they mock him for saying it.
It’s difficult to believe any other view of Comey drafting his statement exonerating Clinton months before the investigation had ended other than that he planned all along to give her a pass no matter what. For instance, former Attorney General Eric Holder’s claim to CNN that Comey already had enough evidence to know where the investigation was going to end up is lacking because the evidence clearly indicated that Hillary Clinton was guilty of what she was accused of doing. And this writer is in powerful company making that assertion, since the Judiciary Committee sent a letter, dated August 30, 2017, to newly appointed FBI Director Christopher Wray saying, in part, “The outcome of an investigation should not be prejudged while FBI agents are still hard at work trying to gather the facts.”
This new revelation brings Comey’s previous testimony on the matter into question, and he will likely soon have to answer some pointed and difficult questions. Because as part of the investigation — demanded by Democrats who sought to use Comey’s surprise firing in May as a tool to deligitimize Trump’s presidency — continues, Senators Charles “Chuck” Grassley (R-Iowa) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who both sit on the committee, intend to have those questions answered. Graham has gone so far as to say that, if necessary, he will issue a subpoena compelling Comey’s testimony. On September 14, Graham told Fox News’ American Newsroom, “He’s coming, one way or the other.”
Before this is over, those Democrats who pressed for this investigation may regret getting what they wished for, because this is not likely to turn out as they had hoped.
Photo of James Comey and former President Obama: the White House
