Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) on Sunday called for James Comey to step down as director of the FBI over the letter he wrote to Congress announcing the discovery of emailed that are “potentially related” to Hillary Clinton’s private email server.
“He should resign his position effective immediately,” Cohen wrote in a public statement.
In light of the recent comments by #FBI Director #Comey re: #HillaryClinton emails, I call on him to resign. Read my full statement here: pic.twitter.com/41XhdanQSA
— Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) October 31, 2016
Noting that he didn’t know Comey’s “reasoning” for sending the letter so soon before Election Day, Cohen said “it was plainly premature, careless and unprecedented in its potential impact upon a Presidential election without a speak of information regarding the emails in question, their validity, substance or relevance.”
By breaking from Justice Department protocol about keeping information about ongoing investigations private, Cohen wrote, Comey falsely gave “an impression of guilt before all the facts have been determined.”
The New York Daily News’ editorial board and CNN’s Paul Callan have also called for Comey to resign, while Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) has accused the FBI director of potentially violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity.
In his statement, Cohen wrote that Comey’s actions undermined the reputation of the FBI and Department of Justice.
“At a minimum, Director Comey’s actions are, to use his own verbiage, ‘extremely careless’ this close to the election and without any apparent substance,” Cohen wrote. “If Director Comey cares about the Bureau and the rule of law, as I have felt he has in the past, I’m sure upon reflection of this action, he will submit his letter of resignation for the nation’s good.”
Honestly, it looks like the person most impacted by this whole kerfuffle is…Comey.
Accept the consequences of your actions, dude. Either get your ass to a press conference (which we know you love) or step down.
Comey: I will step down after I help impeach Hillary, probably in first quarter of 2017.Before that , I must do all it takes to make Putin our POTUS.
It sounds like the FBI, like much of law enforcement, has caught Trumpian over-reach fever.
Another major screw up by the highly naive Obama! He picked the Republican Comey to head the FBI and now the Democrats are paying the price.
If Obama had any balls, he’d fire Comey right now for dereliction of duty and he’d instruct the Justice Department to release an update on the FBI’s investigation of Trump on two major crimes;
I’m really curious to see what comes of Reid’s incendiary charge about the FBI having knowledge of Trump and Russia.
Reid unfortunately doesn’t have the best credibility when it comes to throwing around charges near election time.
IF the FBI actually does have knowledge of Russian colluding with Trump, that would rise to the standard that Painter gives for requiring disclosure to the public.