On Friday, Donald Trump took to his Twitter account to respond to a report about former FBI Director James Comey’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and declared that the system is “rigged.”
“Wow, looks like James Comey exonerated Hillary Clinton long before the investigation was over…and so much more,” Trump tweeted. “A rigged system!”
Wow, looks like James Comey exonerated Hillary Clinton long before the investigation was over…and so much more. A rigged system!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2017
The former reality show star appears to be responding to statements from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said on Thursday that Comey had started drafting a statement clearing Clinton of charges in the case before she was interviewed by the FBI – but now a friend and confidante of Comey’s is responding to the accusations.
Benjamin Wittes, who edits the blog Lawfare, defended James Comey on Friday after Trump, who is not a lawyer, took a shot at his friend.
“This may come as a shock to Grassley and Graham and Trump, but judges sometimes do a memo/draft about an opinion before oral argument,” he tweeted.
“Smart people think ahead and prepare. That appears to be an alien notion to our current President, but that’s likely what happened here,” he continued.
A few thoughts in response to the latest slime-job by the President against Comey. I will keep this very brief. /1/ https://t.co/hvdDHitYHd
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 1, 2017
The people who think Comey was out to save Hillary really should have a cage match with those who think he was out to defeat her. /2/
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 1, 2017
There is nothing surprising about this news that Comey began drafting what became the declination statement early. /3/
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 1, 2017
By May, after 9 months of investigation, unless HRC lied to the FBI or it found something new, this was headed for a declination. /4/
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 1, 2017
Comey was committed to transparency; the hardest part was explaining that they did a credible investigation that resulted in no charges. /5/
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 1, 2017
So I would not be at all surprised if he began exploring how much transparency was possible under the law and what it would look like. /6/
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 1, 2017
This may come as a shock to Grassley and Graham and Trump, but judges sometimes do a memo/draft about an opinion before oral argument. /7/
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 1, 2017
Smart people think ahead and prepare. That appears to be an alien notion to our current President, but that’s likely what happened here. /8/
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 1, 2017
Also @matthewamiller is absolutely correct here about how this approach squares with normal DOJ policy: https://t.co/SzEQ6ZD3GT. /9/
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 1, 2017
To wit, there is no inconsistency between Comey’s saying that no decision had been made and beginning work on a statement early. /10/
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 1, 2017
A writer Polito noted the inconsistency with Trump’s tweet and the statement from the White House after the so-called president fired Comey.
When firing Comey, Trump’s White House put out a lengthy letter saying it was essentially because Comey was too tough on Clinton. https://t.co/ZXAwQf8kum
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) September 1, 2017
Trump and his lawyers have been trying to discredit Comey. It’s almost as if Trump has something to hide.
Photo: Alex Wong via Getty.
