# Comey's election intervention, the full story **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 24, 2017, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047 "2017-01-24T17:15:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/1 "2017-01-24T17:15:19Z")
[The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/the-attorney-general-could-have-ordered-fbi-director-james-comey-not-to-send-his-bombshell-letter-on-clinton-emails-heres-why-she-didnt/2016/12/21/7824d00a-c5fd-11e6-85b5-76616a33048d_story.html?utm_term=.3866bcfee28b) has the best article I’ve yet read on the full story behind the FBI Director’s intervention in the election. It shows how it may have been Bill Clinton himself who set in motion the chain of events which led in the opinion of many to Hillary’s defeat. > [@](#): > > It was a sweltering June day in Phoenix, and Lynch’s plane had just landed at the airport. She and four staffers had flown west for a series of meetings with local police officers. > > The staffers walked down the plane stairs first and stepped into a van on the tarmac. The plan was for Lynch — and her husband, who was also on the trip — to follow quickly afterward and step into another vehicle. As the staffers waited for about five minutes in the van, checking their smartphones, they suddenly saw a man with silvery white hair approaching the plane. > > At first, the staffers could not tell who it was. But then, as the man got close to the airplane steps, one of the staffers said with surprise, “Is that Bill Clinton?” > > It was. Clinton had just wrapped up a fundraiser for his wife and arrived at the tarmac to fly out of Phoenix. His Secret Service detail tipped him off that Lynch was there, too, and he sent word that he wanted to say hello. > > Lynch felt she could not say no to the former president, who 17 years ago promoted her to U.S. attorney. Once inside the plane, Lynch said that she, Clinton and her husband discussed their travels, Clinton’s grandchildren, golfing and Brexit. > > But as the visit dragged on, Lynch became anxious. The Justice Department was still conducting an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email practices during her tenure as secretary of state. Lynch had just wanted to say a quick hello to Bill Clinton, and now they had been talking for close to half an hour. > > Her aides outside were also concerned. One of them got out of the van and walked back onto the plane to tell Lynch that they needed to get moving. > > Lynch would later insist that she and Clinton did not discuss the investigation into his wife. > > But the optics were immediately damaging. Republican legislators raised questions about whether Lynch and the Justice Department’s investigation had been compromised. Lynch didn’t recuse herself from the case but deliberately stepped back from it. It’s certain that otherwise she would have not left the vacuum which Comey filled when he made his statement, which was an unprecedented move by a government official to risk making a statement that could influence the outcome of an election. Bill Clinton’s carelessness may well have indirectly cost his wife the Presidency. Much more detail in the link. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/2 "2017-01-24T17:22:58Z")
[Comey has just received his 30 pieces of silver.](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/24/us/politics/trump-comey-fbi-director-.html?_r=0) ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/3 "2017-01-24T17:47:46Z")
Comey was screwed no matter which door he chose. Had he spoken a crook would get into the White House, and had he kept quiet a crook would get into the White House. And he would get the blame forever no matter what. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/4 "2017-01-24T17:52:55Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > [Comey has just received his 30 pieces of silver.](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/24/us/politics/trump-comey-fbi-director-.html?_r=0) Not getting fired is not 30 pieces of silver. Sorry. From your own link: > [@](#): > > Under federal law, the F.B.I. director is appointed to a 10-year-term, intended to overlap more than one administration as part of post-Watergate overhauls created to give the director independence and insulate the job from politics. The president can fire the director, though. Mr. Comey, a former senior Justice Department official under President George W. Bush, was appointed by President Obama in 2013. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/5 "2017-01-24T18:43:30Z")
Aside from Comey, I can’t help but think how many ways that this whole debacle could have been headed off. If Clinton agreed to use a State Department email address, as it seems all her Cabinet-mates did, there would be no investigation; if Huma Abedin had divorced that son-of-bitch Weiner, the laptop would probably have not been part of the child porn investigation; if Joe Biden had run, I think there’s a 50/50 chance that he would have gotten the nomination; etc etc. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/6 "2017-01-24T19:20:02Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Aside from Comey, I can’t help but think how many ways that this whole debacle could have been headed off. > > If Clinton agreed to use a State Department email address, as it seems all her Cabinet-mates did, there would be no investigation; if Huma Abedin had divorced that son-of-bitch Weiner, the laptop would probably have not been part of the child porn investigation; if Joe Biden had run, I think there’s a 50/50 chance that he would have gotten the nomination; etc etc. Biden would have won the nomination and the general. Unfortunately, he went along with the idea that it was Hillary’s turn. As for Lynch’s meeting with Bill Clinton, I don’t think it was so significant. If, indeed, Lynch could have put the kibosh on the announcement from Comey, it’s her own fault for not doing so. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/7 "2017-01-24T19:35:42Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > Biden would have won the nomination and the general. Unfortunately, he went along with the idea that it was Hillary’s turn. Yeah, it sure was lucky his son died of brain cancer just in time for a good excuse not to run. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/8 "2017-01-24T20:04:47Z")
Interesting times we’re living in. > **[Dear Mr. Putin, Let's Play Chess - Patribotics](https://patribotics.blog/2017/01/17/dear-mr-putin-lets-play-chess-louise-mensch-trump-russia/)** > > The Patribotics theory of Russia's attack on America and the West; Snowden to the 2016 election hack was one single operation > [@](#): > > Furthermore, although Comey is a natural Republican he appeared to have played it straight. In the summer he cleared Clinton of a criminal standard of negligence. In the fall, he had been sandbagged by Russian moles inside the FBI Field Office in New York. But I do not believe Mr. Comey surrendered wrongly to ‘pressure’. He knew the moles had effective kompromat – the emails your hacker Nikulin planted or woke – and that were he not to revise his testimony in the light of new evidence, his far more important natsec investigation into the traitor, Donald Trump, would be discredited. He then worked around the clock to clear Mrs. Clinton. > > All evidence shows that James Comey is pursuing your assault on America, Mr. Putin, with the fearless I expect from a counter-intelligence patriot. In June, he named Donald Trump to a FISA court as an agent of Russian influence. In July, he did the same. Both times, the court turned him down. In April, Mr. Comey received audio of Russian money financing Trump – that’s the same time that Paul Manafort joined the campaign to run it. He formed a joint CIA/FBI /Treasury task force to look at the money. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/9 "2017-01-24T20:23:14Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Not getting fired is not 30 pieces of silver. Sorry. From your own link: I’m very sure that there is no possible way Trump could have ever, ever found a way to get rid of an FBI director he did not like. It’s just not possible, right? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/10 "2017-01-24T22:23:33Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I’m very sure that there is no possible way Trump could have ever, ever found a way to get rid of an FBI director he did not like. It’s just not possible, right? Trump doesn’t hate him, therefore he gave him 30 pcs of silver? Yeah, that makes sense. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/11 "2017-01-24T22:59:29Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > Biden would have won the nomination and the general. Unfortunately, he went along with the idea that it was Hillary’s turn. He also dealt with the minor issue of just having buried his own son, but whatever. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/12 "2017-01-24T23:00:26Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I’m very sure that there is no possible way Trump could have ever, ever found a way to get rid of an FBI director he did not like. It’s just not possible, right? Of course it’s possible. Right there in my quote box it’s mentioned the President could fire him. But not getting fired is hardly some betrayal begotten bounty. The guy’s salary would probably go up by 10X if he was forced into the private sector. And on the other side, you’re expecting Trump to fire Mr Stand Up Righteous guy and start an extra nomination process as default, if it weren’t for having to pay Comey off with his current job. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/13 "2017-01-24T23:06:01Z")
Sometimes people do things that don’t actually make sense. As I’ve said, I have previously held Mr Comey in some esteem, in my endless hunt for the Honest Conservative. In the first instance, he was charged with a mission which he fulfilled, he determined that there was no reasonable case to bring. His editorial comments on her habits and character were not part of his duty. And I think he added those to give the Republicans as much as he could. He couldn’t give them what they really wanted, so he sweetened it, a bit. Esteem lowered. But then this silly horseshit with the dick-pic laptop? What, he didn’t know that the timing of the thing stunk of interference? He didn’t read any of those protocols about avoiding just such a situation? He knew what he was doing, and did it anyway. _Yuck-o-rama_! However, is he the worst bucket of pond scum in the Trump admin.? Not even close. Might as well keep, Goddess alone know who we might get to replace him. Flat tire is better than a busted axle. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/14 "2017-01-24T23:18:59Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > Biden would have won the nomination and the general. Unfortunately, he went along with the idea that it was Hillary’s turn. Biden wouldn’t have won the nomination. It wasn’t just him going along with the idea that it was Hillary’s turn - the entire Democratic Party had the notion that it was Hillary’s turn. He would have been trying to steal the nomination from the first woman president. And he wouldn’t have beaten her in the African American community (which is a lot more important than lower middle class whites in Democratic primaries). In retrospect, with Clinton having been dragged down with all her issues, Biden looks like the better candidate. But he wasn’t that at the time. Biden might have won the general. Certainly he appeals more to the blue collar guys who tilted the mid-west states to Trump. OTOH, Biden is something of a goofball himself. People laugh indulgently about it when he’s not running for anything anyway, but it would have been more of an issue had he ran. > [@elucidator](#): > > In the first instance, he was charged with a mission which he fulfilled, he determined that there was no reasonable case to bring. His editorial comments on her habits and character were not part of his duty. His point was that he did not find that she had not committed any crime. To the contrary, he found that she had committed a crime. However, it was a crime which was rarely ever prosecuted, so he was using prosecutorial discretion in not prosecuting. In that context, he properly explained his reasoning. [Beyond this, the notion that prosecutors don’t comment on non-criminal aspects of the case seems dubious to me. As one example, the DA in the Sandusky case cleared Paterno of any legal liability but excoriated him on moral grounds. I don’t recall anyone commenting on this being improper.] ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/15 "2017-01-24T23:26:11Z")
He was not charged with “prosecuting”. That was specifically and explicitly someone else’s charge, as he referenced himself. He made the determination, with the unanimous agreement of his supporting staff, that it was unreasonable to expect charges to be brought by a prosecutor. He wasn’t _obliged_ to say more than that, he did it because he wanted to. What that has to do with the Sandusky case eludes me. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/16 "2017-01-24T23:27:06Z")
No idea what point you’re making, sorry. ETA: Lynch effectively delegated the prosecution decision to him, as outlined in the OP of this thread. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/17 "2017-01-24T23:32:03Z")
> [@](#): > > … which was an unprecedented move by a government official to risk making a statement that could influence the outcome of an election… You mean this part? He was obliged to decide whether is should be _referred_ to a prosecutor, not to _be_ the prosecutor. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/18 "2017-01-24T23:34:20Z")
OK, but he was making the decision on whether Clinton should be prosecuted or not. (Which is what a DA might be doing, in other situations.) ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/19 "2017-01-24T23:49:08Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > OK, but he was making the decision on whether Clinton should be prosecuted or not. (Which is what a DA might be doing, in other situations.) Well, no. He wasn’t making the decision. He was making a recommendation based on his investigation and he made his recommendation at a press conference. The Justice Department decides. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047/20 "2017-01-24T23:49:58Z")
Read post #16. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comeys-election-intervention-the-full-story/778047.md?page=2)