James Comey is and was universally respected and admired by his employees and senior executives in the law enforcement and intelligence communities. He should not have been fired.
Columnist Cynthia Dill (May 14) got it wrong: She starts with the conclusion that he should have been fired and then “reasons” backward – just like the president.
Proper logical and legal analysis should start at the beginning: the private meeting between then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the husband of a presidential candidate, at the time that Lynch knew that the candidate was then the subject of a Department of Justice and FBI investigation. That unprecedented event made it impossible to follow the customary procedure wherein the FBI would provide the results of its recommendations to the Justice Department.
If that procedure had been blindly followed, and the Justice Department (with or without Lynch’s participation) had told the American public that it would not prosecute Hillary Clinton, everyone would have cried “foul.” Justifiably, they would have asserted that her husband had tainted the process and that his private meeting with Lynch was the reason why there would be no prosecution. Comey made the correct choice: to be transparent with the American people and advise them of the FBI’s independent and objective recommendation.
But we now know that the Clinton emails had nothing to do with the firing. Rather, it was the continued effort to derail the investigation into the connection between the Trump campaign and Russia. While some may suggest that there is no connection, what happened to Michael Flynn, and why has Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from that investigation? The “Trumped up” memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, upon which Sessions based his recommendation to fire Comey, was just another effort by the White House to mislead the American people.
Ms. Dill is wrong. Comey did not deserve to be fired. He should have been allowed to continue his outstanding and professional job as the leader of the most ethical and independent law enforcement and intelligence agency in this country or any other.
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