Our POV | It’s becoming clear now that Attorney General William Barr is the real deal – a lawman focused on enforcing the law regardless of personal or political cost.
It’s just as clear that President Trump is happy with the new attorney general’s commitment to the truth, something one wouldn’t expect from a guilty man. In fact, the president’s actions bespeak a man confident in his own skin and fully in charge.
Former FBI Director James Comey, on the other hand, is beginning to show signs of a man who is feeling the pressure mount. Yesterday, he took his meltdown to Twitter following earlier events that occurred during the past two days.
First, in the morning yesterday, Fox News aired the full interview that correspondent Bill Hemmer had with Attorney General William Barr. A pertinent excerpt follows:
Bill Hemmer: “Can you tell us what the Steele dossier had to do with this? What role did that play?”
Attorney General Barr: “Well, that’s one of the questions we’re going to have to look at. It’s a very unusual situation to have opposition research like that, especially one that on its face had a number of clear mistakes and a somewhat jejune analysis and to use that to conduct counterintelligence against an American political campaign would be a strange development.”
Bill Hemmer: “Do you smell a rat in this at this point.”
Attorney General Barr: “I don’t know if I’d describe it as a rat. I would just say that the answers I’m getting are not sufficient.
That seemingly innocuous answer had Comey freaking out by nightfall:
The AG should stop sliming his own Department. If there are bad facts, show us, or search for them professionally and then tell us what you found. An AG must act like the leader of the Department of Justice, an organization based on truth. Donald Trump has enough spokespeople.
— James Comey (@Comey) May 18, 2019
Holy sanctimonious bullspit Batman! Comey clearly put both thumbs on the scale when handling two investigations of presidential candidates so that the guilty one was exonerated (by him) and the innocent one is dragged through the mud for three years.
He made such a mess of things that nearly his entire staff was dismissed or resigned in disgrace.
But hey, according to Comey there’s nothing to see here.
The takeaway: Comey believes that the FBI can investigate anyone for any length of time but any attempt to peek behind the curtain to see if the investigators – in this case led by Comey – were acting according to the law is heretical.
He doth protest too much.
Seriously, this is not the response of an innocent man.
Barr only suggested he wants to determine if the surveillance operation that Comey authorized was properly predicated. Barr never said it wasn’t. If Comey is innocent he should welcome Barr’s inquiry confident that his actions will be found proper and legal.
Also in the morning yesterday, President Trump took to Twitter to rattle the increasingly unhinged Comey’s cage:
Mission “tweak the corrupt former FBI director” was a success as evidenced by Comey’s response:
The president claiming the FBI’s investigation was “TREASON“ reminds me that a Russian once said, “A lie told often enough becomes the truth.” That shouldn’t happen in America. Who will stand up?
— James Comey (@Comey) May 18, 2019
