It’s almost hard to remember now, but nearly a year ago, when Trump fired James Comey, my initial internal reaction was that this was a measure people on all sides would support. After all, Comey had been vilified up to that point by Democrats as the man who got Trump elected because of his supposedly improper behavior right before Election Day 2016.
I was naive to think this way, of course — the firing was instead perceived as an attempt to remove someone who was investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. As Comey’s book prepares for release next week, almost no one even remembers the earlier role he had played.
Then again, some people do remember. Clinton administration alum Lanny Davis has not forgotten. The subtitle of his book, released February 6, is “How FBI Director James Comey Cost Hillary Clinton the Presidency.” He has an oped in the Wall Street Journal today, and he’s not letting it go:
The FBI began reviewing emails found on former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s laptop on Oct. 31, 2016, some four weeks after Mr. Comey was made aware of their existence. Agents completed their work on Nov. 5. Since it took less than a week to review the emails, couldn’t Mr. Comey have done so before informing Congress? If Mr. Comey argues he didn’t know how long it would take, the question remains: Why didn’t he look first?
You know what? It’s actually not a bad question.
