The Department of Justice’s inspector general on Thursday issued a devastating report finding that former FBI Director James Comey violated department policy and “set a dangerous example” by leaking memos to the New York Times through an intermediary. The rebuke demonstrates once again how President Trump manages to bring out the worst in his opponents.
Trump, no doubt, often behaves outrageously and improperly. But the sense that he is an unprecedented threat to American democracy has also made his opponents feel justified in lowering their own standards to oppose him. Just this week, we’ve seen Trump opponents promote the presidential candidacy of recovering birther Joe Walsh. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell on Wednesday was forced to apologize for airing a thinly sourced report on Trump’s financial ties to Russia, acknowledging that it didn’t go through the normal standards of verification. And now, on Thursday, we get this OIG report.
