republicans in Congress, he knew exactly what the results would be.

MSNBC was the first network to report as breaking news that "the email investigation had been reopened". THAT WAS A LIE.

They then proceeded to parade every right wing politician across their screen for the next two hours. Soon all the other networks joined in the same chorus.

Both Comey and Chaffetz deserve all scorn that can be thrown at them.

Comey was very clear in what he said. But he expected people to read his words with their bright minds, not their dark souls. Instead of assuming "he knew" or even "he should have known" one could equally assume he was pressured into sending a letter that did not implicate Clinton in anything... There is as yet no actual evidence for one over the other.

election

He is not naïveté, and that is exactly what you are portraying him as

perhaps you missed his version in the NYTimes where he defended his actions by saying he did it to stay above the political fray. The evidence is right before your eyes. 11 days before a critical election

Comey can go to hell. He is a POS with no integrity

... etc shouldn't get involved

I've been saying this for a while but there are many on DU who disagree. President Obama had faith in Comey for some reason and I trust President Obama.

ChaffedNutz and Giuliani were going to leak the fake email shit and make Comey look like he was a Clinton shill. He had no choice. He didn't release Trump info because Dems weren't playing dirty like GOP pigs.

against false smears rather than our election. He served himself not us

Integrity?

about Comey being a good man.

One can be a good man and make a very bad decision.

And look what came out of it.

He's not a stupid man, and it wasn't an 'oh gosh, I didn't know this could happen' moment. He's been around more than one or two blocks and knew, imho, exactly who he was dealing with in Chaffetz.

The facts (i.e. the two letters) don't speak to such a conclusion at all.

And shouldn't have said anything

Hillary not attaining the necessary votes to reach the White House.

Although Comey's true intent will probably never be revealed, he blew it, big time.

The second one made reference to the conclusions outlined in the first (actually the first was not a letter but a news release.) No conflation there.

Is there another significant letter I have not mentioned?

to make a difference.

The first letter did the damage, the second letter did diddly squat to minimize the danger.

I don't see the damage you're talking about, which IMO all came from the Chaffetz tweet.

AFAIK there was only one letter on the 28th. Google shows nothing re an earlier letter. Can you clarify?

initially was trying to say it could take a long time to determine if it was relevant. It was only after experts in the field called him out on that, that it was finished by the end of the week

And yes, after all the damage had been done, and then on Friday afternoon

ahead and did it anyway speaks volumes that the asshole knew exacatly what he was doing

Easy to see in hindsight the error of his decision.

So, can we connect this to Chaffetz's recent turnabout on re-running and possibly even quitting partway through his term?

It all comes out in the wash!

11 days before the election to the republicans in Congress said he didn't know if it contained relevant information. (What does that mean? Maybe yes, maybe no. How do you think that sounds to a voting public 11 days before an election.

3. The AG specifically told him NOT to release the letter to the republicans in Congress this close to the election because it would have an impact.

4. After the letter he said it could take time to analyze if the information was relevant. It was only after computer experts called him out that by saying it should take a few days did he say they were working hard to see.

5. He released the final conclusion that there was nothing new on the Friday the week before the election.

Poor naive Comey. (NOT!!!!!!!!)

But didn't really care about Dems.

James Comey’s Fear of Everyone—Except Democrats—Helped Donald Trump Upset Hillary Clinton
Comey thought a lot about the rabid Republican zealots he could offend by doing his job and enforcing the law, and not at all about the Democrats he trusted would be docile and play by the rules.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/24/james-comey-s-fear-of-everyone-except-democrats-helped-donald-trump-upset-hillary-clinton.html

We see in three instances that he feared the wrath of the Republicans. One, if he didn’t break precedent and speak harshly of Clinton while officially exonerating her last summer. So he spoke harshly. Two, if he didn’t announce in late October that the investigation was reopened. So he announced the investigation (which, as we learned too late, again amounted to nothing) was reopened.

And three, if the Republicans in Congress decided post-election to include him and the bureau in its inevitable Clinton witch hunts. So he beat them to the witch hunt, and finally said she was clear just as she drowned. The article doesn’t say this, but surely Comey also feared GOP wrath if he did confirm before the election that Donald Trump was under investigation too, which he finally confirmed last month.

Snip

But nowhere does the article say that Comey feared how Democrats would react if he raked Clinton over the rhetorical coals without bringing charges. Of course he didn’t! Democrats don’t scare anybody.

As I recall things, some Democrats expressed some outrage, but it was scattered, nothing like what the Republicans would have done had the shoe been on the other foot. It took the efforts of Matt Miller, a former Justice Department spokesman for Eric Holder, to crystallize for people the contention that what Comey did was in fact outrageous. Miller called it an “abuse of power,” and he was right—and I confess that even I didn’t see things that way until I read Miller’s writings about it.

he didn't want to show favoritism, and stay above the political fray

So, we have an FBI director who say he wants to get the FBI above the political fray, who then immerses the FBI into the political fray.

Sorry, but give me a break

In other words, I don't buy it, but it is an interesting blurb from the daily beast

that NYT didn't connect. Comey fucked up badly.

releasing information about investigation into Clinton's emails (but nothing about investigation into Trump's campaign and Russia) he wasn't showing favoritism?

... partisan.

Link to tweet

He never had a legitimate reason to be investigating her to begin with.

And, yes, Chaffetz is even worse. He is a career criminal. And his actions warrant censure by the House of Representatives.

.... get the benefit of the doubt

Because as far as I can tell, he and Dana Boente are all that's standing between your nation and the abyss.

Oh the tales I could tell were it not for the very reasonable limits on polite internet discourse. Also, fwiw, I don't think his skillful swiftboating was determinative, but it gave the usual suspects cover for their thievery.