While the OIG does not find that Comey’s conduct merits prosecution, it does conclude that “Comey’s retention, handling, and dissemination of certain memos violated Department and FBI policies, and his FBI Employment Agreement.” The OIG report ultimately presents a “nobody wins” scenario: it firmly rebukes Comey, but it also does nothing to vindicate Trump.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz is as credible and nonpolitical as it gets. He was appointed in 2012 by then-President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate. Horowitz has since made findings perceived as politically favorable and unfavorable to Democrats and Republicans alike, and has a reputation for credibility and independence. Nobody can convincingly point to Horowitz and claim he has some agenda to hurt — or help — Comey, Trump or anyone else.
The OIG report is harshly critical of Comey, and rightly so. No, it does not appear Comey committed a crime — for instance, by knowingly leaking classified materials — and Comey made a hollow claim of vindication on Twitter, generously offering to accept quick “sorry” messages in lieu of formal apologies. But it is no small matter for the director of the FBI, who titled his memoir “A Higher Loyalty,” to violate policy of the very organization he leads.
As the OIG report concludes, by disclosing sensitive issues about the ongoing criminal investigation of Flynn and the broader investigation of Russian election interference to create public pressure on Trump, “Comey set a dangerous example for the over 35,000 current FBI employees.” Most damning of all, the OIG report rejects Comey’s explanation that he felt compelled by some moral duty, concluding that “were current or former FBI employees to follow (Comey’s) example and disclose sensitive information in service of their own strongly held personal convictions, the FBI would be unable to dispatch its law enforcement duties properly.”
Nearly as quickly as Comey himself tried unconvincingly to spin the OIG report into a win, Trump and his political allies jumped on the findings as vindication. In fact, the OIG report does nothing whatsoever to lessen the severity of Trump’s misconduct. This is a key distinction: while the OIG report reprimands Comey for his handling of his memos, it in no way undermines the actual substance of those memos — most importantly, (1) Trump tried to get Comey to pledge loyalty to him, (2) Trump tried to convince Comey to drop the FBI investigation of Flynn, and (3) Trump asked Comey what he could do to “lift the cloud” of the Russia investigation. In fact, Special counsel Robert Mueller adopted Comey’s account of Trump’s demands in those meetings, as memorialized by Comey, despite the denials of Trump’s counsel.
Trump’s demand for loyalty from Comey was inappropriate at best. And Trump’s request that Comey drop the Flynn investigation and the Russia investigation more broadly was, in my view (and the view of over 1,000 other former federal prosecutors), part of Trump’s scheme to criminally obstruct justice.
While Thursday’s OIG report forcefully admonishes Comey for his unprofessionalism and failure of leadership, it does nothing at all to forgive Trump’s alleged criminality.
