‘I’ve seen enough of their selective leaking and distortion…’
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) Once among the nation’s top law-enforcement officers in an intelligence agency known for its covert work, disgraced former FBI Director James Comey says complete transparency is the only acceptable option when his own behavior is under the lens.
On Thursday, Comey responded publicly to a recent subpoena to testify Dec. 3 before the Joint House Judiciary and Oversight committees by insisting that it be public rather than a closed-door hearing.
The subpoena comes after previous efforts by House Judiciary Chair Bob Goodlatte and Oversight Chair Trey Gowdy to have Comey testify voluntarily for the committees in closed sessions.
Today my legal team filed court papers to try to get transparency from House Republicans. Let the American people watch. https://t.co/4kPFDzDPkN
— James Comey (@Comey) November 29, 2018
As Comey well knows, a public hearing would allow former Attorney General Loretta Lynch—his one-time boss, who is subpoenaed to testify the next day—to dodge any potential perjury charges by syncing her responses to his public ones regarding the circumstances under which Comey ended the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server.
President Donald Trump and his attorneys have previously spoken out about the concerns of FBI and other investigators laying a “perjury trap” against administration officials even when no wrongdoing preceded it.
In a separate inquiry conducted by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, Trump said questions over Comey’s dismissal could amount to his word against the former FBI director’s and pose a conflict of interest for Mueller—himself a former FBI director and close friend of Comey’s.
However, such notions have been soundly dismissed as evasion attempts by the Left—of which Comey now counts himself a full-fledged member after having endorsed and given money to Democratic candidates.
Comey’s request that a federal judge “quash” the subpoena invoked clear partisan overtones. He previously had tweeted, in demanding a public hearing, “I’ve seen enough of their selective leaking and distortion.”
In his motion to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Comey said he asked the court to intervene, “not to avoid giving testimony but to prevent the Joint Committee from using the pretext of a closed interview to peddle a distorted, partisan political narrative about the Clinton and Russian investigations through selective leaks.”
Comey also is well-versed in the art of selective leaking. Among the many things he is implicated in is selectively leaking information to the media in order peddle and perpetuate false stories that would then validate applications for secretive warrants through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court to eavesdrop on the Trump campaign.
Comey also allegedly used media leaks to help trigger under false pretenses Mueller’s investigation into Trump’s Russia ties.
Additionally, both Comey and his former deputy, Andrew McCabe, were embroiled in scandal over leaks McCabe made to the media that appeared to perjure Comey for testimony he had made before Congress concerning the Clinton investigation.
After complaining in his formal court petition about the Trump administration’s “corrosive narrative” for publicly criticizing the FBI’s lopsided, partisan hijinks during the campaign, Comey goes on to say, “The broader purpose of these tweets and leaks appears to be to mislead the public and to undermine public confidence in the FBI and the DOJ during a time when President Trump and members of his administration and campaign team are reported to be under investigation.”
The deflective maneuver follows a frequent bait-and-switch pattern deployed by the Left in framing themselves as the victims for being called out on their own wrongdoing.
Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, whom Trump inherited early in his administration before firing her for refusing to represent his executive orders in court, ironically complained to the media earlier this week about the president undermining the authority and public faith in other institutions, such as the corrupted Department of Justice and the partisan judiciary.
“You can debate specific decisions about these institutions, you can debate whether you agree with a particular decision by a judge, but trying undermine the very legitimacy of that judge or of our judicial system, just by way of example, is something that is not only new but I think really dangerous.”
Trump last week engaged in a back-and-forth with U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts concerning the unprecedented use of federal judiciary injunctions to undermine the authority of the White House.
Justice Roberts can say what he wants, but the 9th Circuit is a complete & total disaster. It is out of control, has a horrible reputation, is overturned more than any Circuit in the Country, 79%, & is used to get an almost guaranteed result. Judges must not Legislate Security…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2018
To some, Comey’s effort to use the federal court to circumvent both the legislative and executive branches would suggest clear evidence of the problems within the judiciary and the balance of power among the three federal branches of government.
It also recently was revealed last week—by media leak—that Trump had called for the Justice Department to pursue prosecution of Comey and Hillary Clinton.
Unsurprisingly, with deep-state partisans like Yates and McCabe at the helm even after Comey’s ouster, those efforts got little traction.