Comey's Cryptic Letter On Hillary's Emails Is Totally Inappropriate

I guess we had to figure that there would be one more incredible twist left in this year's crazy presidential campaign and today we got it. FBI Director James Comey sent a letter to the chairmen of certain Congressional committees stating that he was re-opening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails. The letter states, "In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation. I am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation. Although the FBI cannot yet assess whether this material may be significant, and I cannot predict how long it will take us to complete this additional work, I believe it is important to update your Committees about our efforts in light of my previous testimony."

I understand that Comey feels he is in an impossible position at this point. If he says nothing and these new emails turn out to be incriminating, then the Republicans will be all over him for not announcing the probe before the election. On the other hand, releasing a cryptic comment like this without any details and with no timetable for resolution will make Democrats ballistic and accuse of him trying to sway the election, especially if nothing comes from this new investigation.

But, unless the FBI has some pretty clear-cut proof that they can share with the public, then he really should not be saying a thing. The FBI cleared Hillary and ended their investigation this summer. It is perfectly within their right to re-open this investigation. But to make it public without providing any kind of substance to their rationale for doing so is totally inappropriate, especially when they admit they are unsure of whether the new emails are material and when their investigation might end. All this does is provide fodder for the Trump campaign while at the same time giving the Clinton camp absolutely nothing to refute or rebut in any way.

This is not the first time that Comey has made inappropriate remarks as head of the FBI. Back in July, he had a press conference where he commented on the ongoing e-mail investigation. As Matthew Miller, a former Department of Justice spokesperson, pointed out at the time, those comments clearly violated Department of Justice rules on commenting on ongoing investigations. Miller also notes on his twitter feed today that the FBI is refusing to disclose if it is even investigating the reported Russian hacking of Democratic officials, so why is it commenting on its investigation of Hillary's emails.

The lack of political sensitivity to this kind of cryptic disclosure is shocking and certainly makes you question Comey's motivations.