The newly released FBI files exposing the plan to frame former national security advisor Michael Flynn was a “meticulously planned-out scheme to try to get a 33-year combat veteran of the United States to say something that was inaccurate so that they would have a basis to try to charge him with false statements or otherwise get him fired,” in the words of Andrew McCarthy.
And disgraced former FBI head James Comey joked about it. In December 2018, while speaking with the execrable Nicole Wallace of MSNBC, Comey said that he sent FBI agents into the room where Flynn was being interrogated. Comey added that it was “something we, I probably wouldn’t have done or gotten away with in a more organized investigation — a more organized administration.”
Understandably so, most Republicans want Comey to face charges, and surprisingly a plurality of Democrats think that criminal wrongdoing was likely (though that doesn’t mean they want Comey to face consequences).
According to Rasmussen Reports:
- Most Republicans still believe senior federal law enforcement officials acted illegally to try to stop Donald Trump’s election and think former FBI Director James Comey should be criminally prosecuted.
- Sixty-three percent (63%) of Likely Republican Voters consider it likely that senior federal law enforcement officials broke the law in an effort to prevent Trump from winning, with 48% who say it’s Very Likely.
- Forty-nine percent (49%) of Democrats and 42% of voters not affiliated with either major party agree that criminal wrongdoing is likely.
- Among all likely voters, 48% think it’s likely that senior federal law enforcement officials broke the law, with 34% who say it’s Very Likely. This compares to 50% and 32% two years when Rasmussen Reports first asked this question.
- Thirty-nine percent (39%) believe Comey should be criminally prosecuted, but just as many (40%) disagree. A sizable 21%, however, are undecided. Among Republicans, 54% want Comey criminally prosecuted. Thirty-one percent (31%) of Democrats and 32% of unaffiliated voters agree.
Like with Sally Yates, President Trump’s only mistake in dealing with James Comey was in not firing him sooner.
