Tomorrow, FBI Director James Comey will be held up for public display by the Republicans as the traitor they’ve always believed him to be. If you have forgotten, Director Comey blocked the authorization for the NSA surveillance program under President George W. Bush in 2004. Comey was the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, second in command to John Ashcroft. The Ashcroft led Justice Department questioned the legality of the NSA’s ability to conduct what was deemed possible illegal activity and shuttered portions of the program. Ashcroft suffered an attack of acute pancreatitis the next day and was hospitalized. White House Chief of Staff Andy Card and White House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez allegedly at the behest of Vice President Dick Cheney were dispatched to extract a signature of support from Mr. Ashcroft to reverse the decision, even in his critical state.
In steps our hero, James Brien Comey Jr. Comey got wind of the Cheney minions setting the authorization ambush for Mr. Ashcroft and did his best impression of Michael Corleone from the Godfather. He made his presence and influence felt. He protected the attorney general from the move to waylay him in his weakened state and get his authorization. Reportedly Mr. Ashcroft’s mental competency as a result of his illness made him incapable of rational decision making.
Now Mr. Comey has rankled the feathers of the Republican Party once more by finding no willful attempt by former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to subvert the nation’s security for illegal purposes. The man who tossed Marth Stewart in jail is now refusing to get the woman they hate most. Comey tried his best to subdue the ravenous dogs with a red meat condemnation of Mrs. Clinton but it was not enough to quiet the baying hounds. From the yelping of House Speaker Paul Ryan to the incoherent tweeting of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, the scratching you are hearing at the director’s door will be the comeuppance that Republicans have wanted for years. I have not watched Fox News, but I am sure Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzalez will be dragged out to excoriate Mr. Comey at some point today. The daggers are being sharpened, phone calls are being made and the Hillary haters will examine every move James Comey has made in his legal career since he passed the bar exam. How ironic, he is going to be Clinton-ed. The FBI is going to be put on trial for a few hours tomorrow and nothing will come of it, just like the many Clinton investigations. The result will be a cloud of distrust, skepticism and anger directed at Mr. Comey that will stick in the Republican craw for years and will forever stymie Comey’s career.
Welcome aboard Jimmy, an ebbtide sinks all ships.