FBI Director James Comey testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee today where he blamed the Obama administration for not forcefully calling out Russian interference in the 2016 election sooner rather than later.
“I thought it was very important to call out what the Russians were trying to do with our election,” Comey testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “And I offered in August myself to be a voice for that in a public piece calling it out. The Obama administration didn’t take advantage of that in August. They did it in October. But I thought that was very important to call out.”
There are probably some people reading this who agree with Comey. I don't, but I'm not going to argue about that.
The problem with Comey's finger-pointing is that he, in violation of Justice Department guidance, chose to unilaterally announce that the FBI discovered a cache of emails on Anthony Weiner's laptop. Those emails turned out to be duplicates that were already reviewed by the bureau. It was a nothingburger, but Comey's letter to the House Oversight Committee gave the public the wrong impression and may have even delivered the White House to Trump.
Comey saw fit to take unilateral action and delivered a critical blow to the Clinton campaign just a week before the election, but he never informed the public that virtually everyone in Trump's orbit was under active investigation.
His effort to place the blame exclusively with President Obama doesn't hold up. Comey is not innocent.