Within hours of the IG reports publication, James Comey tweeted out a Washington Post article he wrote proclaiming his own exoneration. “So it was all lies. No treason. No spying on the campaign. No tapping Trumps wires. It was just good people trying to protect America,” he captioned the tweet. In his article he does mention the surveillance of Carter Page, but doesn’t acknowledge the IG report finding any misconduct there.
His tune was a bit different yesterday when he joined Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday. Comey admitted to being “overconfident” in his defense of the FBI’s use of the FISA process, and that what happened “was not acceptable.” Of the seventeen significant errors Michael Horowitz details in the IG report, Comey says “He’s right, I was wrong.”
Comey’s op-ed was penned before anyone had enough time to fully digest the IG report – including himself. He jumped the gun, and with a greater picture of what the IG report actually says now available, most voters would disagree with Comey’s claim that “it was all lies.”
According to Rasmussen Reports:
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone and online survey finds that 52% of Likely U.S. Voters consider it likely that senior federal law enforcement officials broke the law in an effort to prevent Trump from winning the presidency. Thirty-nine percent (39%) say that’s unlikely. This includes 36% who say it’s Very Likely they broke the law to get Trump and 24% who say it’s Not At All Likely.
A plurality (43%) thinks these officials should be jailed if they are found guilty of breaking the law to prevent a Trump presidency, up dramatically from 25% early this year, while another 22% say they should just be fired. Fifteen percent (15%) favor a formal reprimand. Just 11% say no disciplinary action should be taken.
But only 34% of voters believe the officials in question are likely to face criminal charges for their anti-Trump activity, with just 16% who say it’s Very Likely. Fifty-five percent (55%) see criminal prosecution of these rogue officials as unlikely, including 24% who feel it’s Not At All Likely.
A large chunk of people simultaneously believe there should be some sort of consequences – but that there won’t be. Sadly, they’re probably right.
