FBI Director James Comey Defied Attorney General With Email Announcement
“It is shocking and disheartening that someone I admired would do this,” a former federal prosecutor said.
WASHINGTON ― FBI Director James Comey’s unprecedented decision to insert the bureau into the presidential campaign less than two weeks from Election Day has caused a rift in federal law enforcement.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch wanted Comey to follow DOJ protocols and traditions and not reveal the discovery of new emails that might be pertinent to Clinton’s case, The Huffington Post was able to confirm on Saturday, following the account of a Justice Department official in The Washington Post.
The U.S. Attorneys’ manual emphasizes the importance of “limited confidentiality” in “ongoing operations and investigations” to safeguard “the rights of victims and litigants as well as the protection of the life and safety of other parties and witnesses.”
Julie Werner-Simon, a former federal prosecutor who retired from DOJ in August 2015 after 29 years of service, argues that Comey’s decision to make public an incremental development in the investigation with little clear significance is a breach of the protocol outlined in the manual.
“It is shocking and disheartening that someone I admired would do this,” she said. “If I did what he did, I would be censured.”
“My view is that there should be an investigation” into Comey’s behavior, she added. “Under the rules that he violated, that investigation should be secret. That’s the point.”
There are exceptions to this protocol under unusual circumstances, but Comey would have had to consult with a senior official at DOJ before doing so, according to Werner-Simon, who instructed federal prosecutors about these protocols as senior litigation counsel at DOJ, the last position she held there.
“Who gave him permission? If he is going to use unusual circumstances under the U.S. Attorneys’ Manual, who did he discuss it with?” Werner-Simon said.
Nancy Gertner, a retired federal judge appointed by President Bill Clinton who now lectures at Harvard Law School, had a similarly stinging indictment of Comey’s actions.
“I cannot think of any reason except Comey’s own personal interests to make public the possibility that there may be emails whose content he does not know that may be relevant to the investigation,” Gertner said.
MORE: FBI Director James Comey Defied Attorney General With Email Announcement
So, Comey defied his boss! That usually doesn't turn out well...
“It is shocking and disheartening that someone I admired would do this,” a former federal prosecutor said.
WASHINGTON ― FBI Director James Comey’s unprecedented decision to insert the bureau into the presidential campaign less than two weeks from Election Day has caused a rift in federal law enforcement.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch wanted Comey to follow DOJ protocols and traditions and not reveal the discovery of new emails that might be pertinent to Clinton’s case, The Huffington Post was able to confirm on Saturday, following the account of a Justice Department official in The Washington Post.
The U.S. Attorneys’ manual emphasizes the importance of “limited confidentiality” in “ongoing operations and investigations” to safeguard “the rights of victims and litigants as well as the protection of the life and safety of other parties and witnesses.”
Julie Werner-Simon, a former federal prosecutor who retired from DOJ in August 2015 after 29 years of service, argues that Comey’s decision to make public an incremental development in the investigation with little clear significance is a breach of the protocol outlined in the manual.
“It is shocking and disheartening that someone I admired would do this,” she said. “If I did what he did, I would be censured.”
“My view is that there should be an investigation” into Comey’s behavior, she added. “Under the rules that he violated, that investigation should be secret. That’s the point.”
There are exceptions to this protocol under unusual circumstances, but Comey would have had to consult with a senior official at DOJ before doing so, according to Werner-Simon, who instructed federal prosecutors about these protocols as senior litigation counsel at DOJ, the last position she held there.
“Who gave him permission? If he is going to use unusual circumstances under the U.S. Attorneys’ Manual, who did he discuss it with?” Werner-Simon said.
Nancy Gertner, a retired federal judge appointed by President Bill Clinton who now lectures at Harvard Law School, had a similarly stinging indictment of Comey’s actions.
“I cannot think of any reason except Comey’s own personal interests to make public the possibility that there may be emails whose content he does not know that may be relevant to the investigation,” Gertner said.
MORE: FBI Director James Comey Defied Attorney General With Email Announcement
So, Comey defied his boss! That usually doesn't turn out well...
