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James Comey's worst week

James Comey had hoped to lay low for a while after the election. After all, the FBI director--via his last-minute interjection into the presidential race--had become a major player in the fight between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

A few months in the background, however, was not to be for Comey. The Justice Department's Inspector General announced on Friday that it would open an investigation into Comey's conduct in the runup to the election.

"I am grateful to the Department of Justice's IG for taking on this review," Comey said in a statement that didn't just stretch credulity but totally shattered it.

Some rejoiced, seeing the probe as proof of what they had insisted since Comey delivered extended remarks on why no indictment would be brought against Clinton last July: That he had broken with protocol and waded deeply into the political process.

It was Comey's letter to Congress in late October--announcing that potentially relevant information to the Clinton email investigation had been found on a computer belonging to Clinton aide Huma Abedin and former New York Rep. Anthony Weiner--that really sent Democrats over the edge.

The assumption was that Comey had either seen or been briefed on emails from the Abedin-Weiner computer that had the potential to fundamentally alter the investigation into Clinton's private email server as secretary of State.

Nope! Turns out that there was nothing new on the computer. But that got lost amid the refocusing by Trump and the rest of the political world on Clinton's emails, which, strangely, became conflated with the ongoing WikiLeaks release of hacked emails from Clinton's top staffers. Clinton as well as President Barack Obama have said the focus on emails at the end of the campaign was a factor in her loss. Other Democrats went further, insisting Comey's intervention was the main factor in her loss.

What's far clearer is just how poorly Comey's plan to blend into the background of political Washington went last week. James Comey, for standing out when you hoped to sit on the sidelines, you had the worst week in Washington. Congrats, or something.

Editorial on 01/17/2017

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