In another twist on Friday's letter to Congress from FBI Director James Comey regarding e-mails reportedly found on the laptop used by skeevy, disturbed Anthony "Carlos Danger" Weiner and his estranged wife and Clinton aide Huma Abedin, the FBI has reportedly had the e-mails in question for weeks, adding to the suspicious timing of the letter 11 days before the election. Comey is under fire from former prosecutors and the Clinton campaign for the letter sent to Congressional Committees that was vague enough to create wild speculation among Rethuglican partisans about the nature and relevance of the discovered e-mails.
To add to Comey's problems, by sending the letter before an election, he may have violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits Federal employees from engaging in partisan activities or using their position to influence an election. A former Bush Administration chief ethics official, Richard Painter, has filed a complaint against Comey with both the Office of Special Counsel and the Office of Government Ethics alleging he abused his power in influencing an election. Painter states in the complaint that:
"We cannot allow F.B.I. or Justice Department officials to unnecessarily publicize pending investigations concerning candidates of either party while an election is underway. That is an abuse of power. Allowing such a precedent to stand will invite more, and even worse, abuses of power in the future."In his unprecedented and unsanctioned act, Comey, instead of covering his rear end with the Rethugs in Congress, may well have violated Federal law.
UPDATE: Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) is on Comey's case too, for potential violations of the Hatch Act, in a letter sent to him today. Here's an extra kicker in Reid's letter for Comey (and the media) to digest:
"In my communications with you and other top officials in the national security community, it has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the Russian government – a foreign interest openly hostile to the United States, which Trump praises at every opportunity. The public has a right to know this information. I wrote to you months ago calling for this information to be released to the public." (emphasis added)
