Comey and the secret Russian document

This is some amazing stuff. The sort of thing that gets written about in history books and turned into movie scripts. Yet, this is also the sort of stuff that has now become part of our daily lives. Background noise.

James Comey, the former FBI director and former deputy U.S. attorney general, has written a book about his experiences.

He has prosecuted organized crime bosses, battled terrorism and is regarded as a national hero by some for standing up for civil liberties when government leaders in the administration of George W. Bush were trampling them in the name of national security.

Now he is denounced by Democrats and Republicans for quite different reasons. His patriotism and honesty have been called into question.

Comey was fired from the FBI while investigating allegations that the Trump presidential campaign colluded with Russians to impact the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Trump himself said he fired Comey because of the Russia probe. Trump’s deputy attorney general said Comey deserved to be fired … for the way he handled the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation in 2016.

A special prosecutor, Robert Mueller, was named to take on that Russia investigation after Comey launched a chain of events designed to achieve that very outcome after his firing. Comey felt it was essential the Russia investigation continue for the good of the country. A fellow who has spent his entire life protecting this nation from its enemies believes Trump poses a danger to this country.

I bought the book by Comey hoping to make sense of some of this chaos and ended up learning something new.

While investigating whether Clinton as U.S. secretary of state had deliberately mishandled classified documents, Comey said the FBI came across information that in his mind made it necessary for him to exclude the U.S. attorney general (Comey’s boss) from a news conference announcing the FBI’s findings in the Clinton investigation.

“A development still unknown to the American public to this day,” Comey confided on page 172 of “A Higher Loyalty,” challenged the credibility of the Clinton investigation and ultimately the outcome of the election.

“At this time (early 2016), we were alerted to some materials that had come into the possession of the United States government,” Comey stated. “They came from a classified source – the source and content of that material remains classified as I write this. Had it become public, the unverified material would undoubtedly have been used by political opponents to cast serious doubt on the attorney general’s independence in connection with the Clinton investigation.”

Although the FBI rarely announces the result of an investigation when it does not bring charges, Comey said he came to believe he would have to after former President Bill Clinton boarded a government plane and spoke to U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch, resulting in accusations that he was interfering on his wife’s behalf. That incident, in combination with the secret document, forced the FBI’s hand.

That was a document compiled by Russian intelligence alleging that there had been an e-mail between Clinton campaign operatives and a key Democratic Party supporter alleging that Lynch had assured someone that Hillary Clinton would not have any problems with the FBI.

The Washington Post has reported that intelligence agents claim the FBI determined the document was a fake, likely fabricated by Russian intelligence sources. But Comey couldn’t risk the fact that the Russians, who were leaking Democratic campaign committee emails, wouldn’t leak this one.

Either way, the Russians impacted Comey’s decision in a way I had not understood.

Comey said he acted to save the reputation and preserve the credibility of the FBI. Did he achieve that goal?

It seems to me the Russians have turned us against ourselves and are the clear winners.

Email: philkadner@gmail.com