TPM - Marshall "How to Understand James Comey"

[NRaleighLiberal]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/how-to-understand-james-comey#more-1059390

By JOSH MARSHALL Published MAY 15, 2017 12:52 PM

It was reported on Friday that James Comey has declined to testify before the Senate unless he can do so in open session (and presumably only in open session). The motivation seems pretty clear: Comey wants his version of events aired in public and not kept under wraps or (the bigger issue, I think) subjected to the interpretations of senators who discuss the testimony with the press.

But this is a good moment to discuss a broader issue about Comey, which I think this illustrates.

I’ve been covering James Comey in various settings for more than a decade. I’ve always had a great deal of respect for his integrity and professionalism. Or at least I did until about six months ago. After he pushed the Clinton emails probe back into the national election on Oct. 28, in what amounted to an October Surprise, I said I thought he should resign. I still think that he should have resigned … then. But after President Trump was elected, the calculus changed significantly. Indeed, a few days before President Trump’s inauguration I wrote this on Twitter:”100% agree with this. Comey disgraced himself. By rights, should resign. Would be a disaster if he did.”

This has basically always captured my take on what happened in October. But these latest developments as well as this earlier history gets at the more important reasons that I think were behind it – indeed, why the Comey myth was the root of that terrible decision.

snip - highly recommended - an excellent read - more at the link

[LisaM]

1. Hmmmm.

I still find it curious that Obama chose Comey if he was partisan enough to have publicly contributed to McCain and Romney's campaigns. And, if Comey was really that perturbed over Hillary's server, why wasn't he equally critical of Colin Powell and Condeleezza Rice for doing the same thing?

[brush]

2. The incident at the hospital room in 2004 cemented Comey's rep as a stand up, incorruptible...

guy, which IMO is why O hired him.

[brush]

3. Somewhat of an apologia for Comey and his reasoning for the Oct. 28 letter

Like so many others the writer makes a long, tortured appeal to give readers a reason for excusing Comey's lapse of judgment on Oct. 28 — the rogue FBI agents in the NY office were about to leak it; he wanted to keep his promise to Congress if there were any new developments; he wanted to preserve his rep for probity and straight-anrrowness, he was against a rock and a hard place and on and on.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't want to hear it at all.

He was also, and had been since July of 2016, investigating trump also and never said a peep about that through out the summer and fall of 2016 (we didn't find out until Jan. of '17), yet he wrote that letter to Chaffetz and others, knowing full well one of them would leaked it and thus guarantee the election to trump. If he had seen to the trump investigation being leaked as he did the "new" Clinton one we as a country would not be going through this now. trump would have been toast.

WTF is wrong with these apologists. There is no excuse for that, no matter how you want now to feel sorry for Comey. He's a partisan hack underneath his straight arrow appearance, and now he's a sad, tragic and pathetic figure whose chance for redemption ended when he was fired by the guy he gave too much power too.