Jamie S. Gorelick, who served as deputy attorney general during the Clinton administration, recently opined that then-FBI Director James Comey was “damaging our democracy” by telling Congress less than than two weeks before the presidential election that the FBI was reviewing additional correspondence that may have been relevant to the Hillary Clinton email probe.
Gorelick joined a chorus of former attorneys general and deputy attorneys general from across the political spectrum who publicly criticized Comey’s move last October.
Writing in the Washington Post on October 29, Gorelick slammed Comey’s decision to so publicly reopen the case just before the election as “antithetical to the interests of justice, putting a thumb on the scale of this election and damaging our democracy.”
Gorelick co-authored the Washington Post opinion piece, titled, “James Comey is damaging our democracy,” with Larry Thompson, who served under the George W. Bush administration as deputy attorney general from 2001 to 2003.
Gorelick was identified in the Post oped as “a supporter of Hillary Clinton,” in addition to her former gig as deputy attorney general.
The two wrote:
First, the FBI director, James B. Comey, put himself enthusiastically forward as the arbiter of not only whether to prosecute a criminal case — which is not the job of the FBI — but also best practices in the handling of email and other matters. Now, he has chosen personally to restrike the balance between transparency and fairness, departing from the department’s traditions. As former deputy attorney general George Terwilliger aptly put it, “There’s a difference between being independent and flying solo.”
… Having taken the extraordinary steps of briefing the public, testifying before Congress about a decision not to prosecute and sharing investigative material, Comey now finds himself wanting to update the public and Congress on each new development in the investigation, even before he and others have had a chance to assess its significance.
Gorelick’s piece was referenced in a letter yesterday from Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein recommending that Comey be fired, writing, “I cannot defend the director’s handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton’s emails.”
Rosenstein referenced the criticism of Comey from other former attorneys general and deputy attorneys general.
The letter outlined:
- Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who served under President George W. Bush, observed that the Director stepped way outside his job in disclosing the recommendation in that fashion” because the FBI director doesn’t make that decision.”
- Alberto Gonzales, who also served as Attorney General under President George W. Bush, called the decision an error in judgment.
- Eric Holder, who served as Deputy Attorney General under President Clinton and Attorney General under President Obama, said that the Director’s decision “was incorrect. It violated long-standing Justice Department policies and traditions.” Holder concluded that the Director broke with these fundamental principles and negatively affected public trust in both the Justice Department and the FBI.
- Donald Ayer, who served as Deputy Attorney General under President George HW. Bush, along with other former Justice Department officials, was “astonished and perplexed| by the decision to “break with longstanding practices followed by officials of both parties during past elections.”
Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.
With research by Joshua Klein.