After giving you my initial thoughts on the DOJ IG Report in my last posting, I have had an opportunity to consider what it confirmed, and it isn’t good. What’s obvious is that the credibility of the DOJ and the FBI has been destroyed.
The report confirmed much of what we had already determined. Comey overstepped his responsibility and FBI agents Strzok and Page and others exhibited extreme bias in their remarks.
Despite the Inspector General’s report statement that “In particular, we were concerned about text messages exchanged by FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, special counsel to the deputy director, that potentially indicated or created the appearance that investigative decisions were impacted by bias or improper considerations” … investigators found “no evidence that the conclusions by the prosecutors were affected by bias or other improper considerations.
ADDING TO THE INCREDULITY, FBI Director Christopher Wray blew his opportunity to give us confidence that he was the man to restore integrity in the bureau with his lackluster appearance before the media following the release of the report. Missing was any sense of indignance or disgust with those who have brought discredit to the bureau.
Saying that he was “disappointed,” and “I take this report seriously” as he referred to “errors of judgement, violations of or disregard for policy … and decisions that … were not the best choices,” Wray simply added “we will not tolerate non-compliance.”
Unfortunately, the report findings are just the latest in a long list of actions that go beyond the misconduct outlined in the IG Report; many date back to the Obama administration, when the politicization of the FBI began.
Remember when Obama said his eight-year tenure was free of scandal? “A scandal does not become an official scandal if no one acts on findings of improper behavior,” says columnist Victor Davis Hanson.
And that wasn’t going to happen with Obama in the White House, Eric Holder as attorney general and James Comey leading the FBI. There would be no scandal, as Congress was stonewalled on Fast and Furious, IRS targeting, Benghazi and misconduct in the GSA, Secret Service, ATF and the VA.
So, what’s next. DOJ IG Michael Horowitz is scheduled to testify before Congress next week. I doubt that we will learn more than we already know. I trust someone will ask him about his finding that bias did not play a role in investigative decisions. Clearly, pro-Hillary agents conducted the investigation of her mishandling of classified material and participated in her exoneration.
FINALLY – Wouldn’t you think the IG Report’s findings of wrongdoing would be sufficient to assign punishment to those cited for misconduct? No. That’s not the way “Big Government” operates. I understand that It is now the responsibility of the Office of Professional Accountability to conduct an investigation prior to recommending punishment for those cited for misdeeds in the report.
“Finding government abuse and doing nothing about it is worse than not finding it all.” – Victor Davis Hanson
May God bless the United States of America
