The recent events regarding the FBI have shown that FBI Director James Comey can no longer effectively lead the organization. I don’t just mean the current circus over his reopening/non-reopening of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. During the current year, he has systematically failed to protect the public against terrorism, voter fraud, and corruption. He has outed himself as a defender of the white male patriarchy at the expense of the rest of us. Let the record show his list of failures as FBI Director:
— James Comey’s letter was very clearly intended as an effort to influence the outcome of the current election. The Hatch Act is very clear on this:
(a) Subject to the provisions of subsection (b), an employee may take an active part in political management or in political campaigns, except an employee may not—
(1) use his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election
There is also this section:
(b) (1) An employee of the Federal Election Commission (except one appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate), may not request or receive from, or give to, an employee, a Member of Congress, or an officer of a uniformed service a political contribution.
(2) (A) No employee described under subparagraph (B)
(except one appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate), may take an active part in political management or political campaigns.
Since James Comey was appointed by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate, he can make speeches or work for Donald Trump if he so chooses. However, Section B only applies to working for campaigns. He still cannot use his official authority to influence the election, which is what he is doing.
But this is hardly an isolated example. Here are some other examples of how James Comey has failed to protect the public against terrorism, voter fraud, and corruption:
--He failed to protect the public from the Oregon Standoff militants; he failed to act on them for a prolonged period of time. When the seven main defendants were arrested, he failed to secure their conviction.
--He failed to investigate Republican officials for engaging in the same carelessness that he says Hillary Clinton is guilty of.
--He failed to investigate the multiple sex orgies that Donald Trump and multiple other millionaires engaged in, in which minor girls were present.
--He failed to investigate thousands of cases of police brutality against Blacks and Native Americans; without police accountability, we have tyranny.
--He failed to investigate Donald Trump for bilking people out of their life savings through Trump University.
--He is failing to enforce court orders against vote suppression in swing states, making them of no effect.
--He failed to investigate Donald Trump’s violation of our embargo against Cuba.
--He failed to investigate Donald Trump’s potential business ties with Russia.
--He failed to investigate the recent trip that Jill Stein took to Russia to determine whether she violated the Logan Act by negotiating with a foreign power on our behalf. There is plenty of speculation as to whether Donald Trump knows Putin more than he is willing to let on.
Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
--He failed to investigate whether Donald Trump violated the Logan Act by his trip to Mexico.
--He failed to protect us against the Tsarnaev brothers by missing multiple opportunities to arrest them before they carried out the Boston Marathon Bombings.
--He failed to investigate whether Donald Trump’s repeated refusal to pay small businesses and contractors constitute the crime of stealing by deceit.
--He failed to protect us against Omar Mateen despite multiple hints that he was planning a terrorist attack.
--He failed to protect us against Ahmad Rahami, who bombed targets in New York and New Jersey.
--He failed to arrest Cliven Bundy, allowing him to act with greater impunity and leading to the Oregon Standoff.
We understand that the FBI is constrained by free speech and its mistakes of the past. However, there are several things they could have done in the cases of Mateen and Rahami given they had specific information they might be planning terrorist attacks. They could have talked to them on a regular basis, letting them know that the FBI was watching their every move. I’ve seen plenty of cases where simply talking to someone has defused potentially dangerous situations.
I’m not saying that the FBI should spy on Mosques or even right-wing militant groups. Freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are protected by the Constitution. But if they get specific information that someone is planning to act, that is when they need to follow up actively, even if it just means talking to the person periodically to make sure everything is all right. They could talk to family members on an ongoing basis as well. They could talk to local police and the sheriff’s department. If I had a loved one, I would want to know if they are in danger of going off the rails so I could act.
What we are seeing is a systematic failure by Mr. Comey to protect us when public officials violate the law or we are in danger of a potential terrorist attack. And we are seeing a systematic effort on his part to protect and serve the wealthy at the expense of the rest of us.