Yesterday's letter from FBI Director James Comey to Congress saying that "the FBI has learned of the existence of e-mails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation" of Secretary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server was an unprecedented move by them just 10 days before the election. In fact, the e-mails that Comey referred to were those uncovered in an investigation of sleazy, disturbed former Rep. Anthony "Carlos Danger" Weiner for sexting an underage female. Weiner is the estranged husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin, who apparently used his laptop to send e-mails as part of her State Department duties. Whether or not classified material was stored or transmitted improperly on that laptop is the focus of the FBI review.
Comey has come under fire from former prosecutors and Justice Department officials for his public disclosure of the new information while an investigation is proceeding, and at the height of an important election. By publicizing the new e-mails without a determination of their relevance or importance to the FBI's previous investigation, the FBI has facilitated Clinton's political and media enemies to engage in speculation and reckless charges before anything is known. To address yesterday's kerfuffle, Clinton urged the FBI to release "the full and complete facts" of their e-mail review, but Comey's letter indicated that he had no estimate as to when the review would be completed, that last part to the delight of Rethuglicans scrambling to salvage the election.
Last night on "All In With Chris Hayes," New York Magazine writer Rebecca Traister discussed the role that bad behavior by men is having on the first female candidate for President. Whether it's sociopathic groper Donald "Rump" Trump, or misbehaving former President Bill Clinton, or serial adulterers and Rump surrogates Newt "Poot" Gingrich and Rudy "Noun Verb 9-11" Giuliani, or sexting "Carlos Danger" Weiner, the bad conduct of men toward women keeps reverberating through this campaign. Comey's behavior, while not salacious, is at best questionable. As Traister memorably said, "it's like the festival of problematic men."
BONUS: Erin Gloria Ryan makes the same point, as does T. Becket Adams:
UPDATE: Comey felt the need to clarify his actions in a letter to FBI employees on Friday, which read in part:As a woman inches closer to the White House, news is dominated by sexual misconduct of her opponent, her husband and her aide’s husband.— T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) October 28, 2016
Of course, we don’t ordinarily tell Congress about ongoing investigations, but here I feel an obligation to do so given that I testified repeatedly in recent months that our investigation was completed. I also think it would be misleading to the American people were we not to supplement the record. At the same time, however, given that we don’t know the significance of this newly discovered collection of emails, I don’t want to create a misleading impression. In trying to strike that balance, in a brief letter and in the middle of an election season, there is significant risk of being misunderstood, but I wanted you to hear directly from me about it. (our emphasis)"Misunderstood." Ya think, Sherlock?
UPDATE II: Four Democratic Senators have asked Comey and the Department of Justice for more information about the investigation and emails by October 31, saying that Comey's letter had been misunderstood and was being used for partisan purposes just 10 days before the election.
