Posted on 10/31/2016 4:02:43 AM PDT by RC one
The former chief ethics lawyer at the White House during George W. Bush’s presidency has filed an ethics complaint against FBI Director James Comey. In an op-ed published in the New York Times on Sunday, Richard W. Painter writes that he filed a complaint against the FBI for violating the Hatch Act, "which bars the use of an official position to influence an election." He filed the complaint with both the Office of Special Counsel and the Office of Government Ethics.
ainter, who was the head White House ethics lawyer between 2005 and 2007 and now supports Hillary Clinton, says Comey violated the Hatch Act when he sent the letter to lawmakers on Friday informing them of the newly discovered emails. “This letter, which was quickly posted on the internet, made highly unusual public statements about an FBI investigation concerning a candidate in the election,” writes Painter. “The letter was sent in violation of a longstanding Justice Department policy of not discussing specifics about pending investigations with others, including members of Congress.”
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
It (the Hatch Act) provided that persons below the policy-making level in the executive branch of the federal government must not only refrain from political practices that would be illegal for any citizen, but must abstain from "any active part" in political campaigns, using this language to specify those who are exempt:[5]
(i) an employee paid from an appropriation for the Executive Office of the President; or
(ii) an employee appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, whose position is located within the United States, who determines policies to be pursued by the United States in the nationwide administration of Federal laws.
The director of the FBI is appointed by the President with the advise and consent of the senate. I'm thinking he has a hand in determining "policies to be pursued by the United States in the nationwide administration of Federal laws".
Seems like the Hatch Act doesn't apply to Comey. I'm guessing he knew that before he proceeded with this.
He was just following orders from the Congress - the Congress “leaked” it......
...clown didn’t have any problem with bill Clinton meeting with lynch on the tarmac tho....
Another Harvard/Yale self-appointed public master.
Get the rope.
Yup
Seems to me that he didn’t “inform the public.” He informed Congress as he was required to do as instructions from Congress to keep them updated.
Additionally, anybody in, from, behind or connected to the Bush family quibbling and Never Trumping the election now can just Shut The F@ck Up. I don’t want to hear “Bush” anything any more. Not one more word.
The Bush family, and their imps, are political poison to America.
Let's say hypothetically Comey "did" violate Hatch act, even though it doesn't seem to apply to him. What can they do?
This guy was a Bush “ethics” lawyer, which tells you all you need to know about the complete absence of character of this individual.
The Bush crime family and the Clinton crime family aren’t really two separate operations, which is part of why it’s been such an incredibly difficult slog to hold Clinton to account - she has the Bush clan protecting her as well as her own.
Yet when Comey refused to recommend prosecution for violations of national security that would land any ordinary citizen in prison, that wasn’t about influencing the outcome of the election at all.
Odd, how the election influencing can only go one way.
In a true republic where all citizens have equal rights under the law, criminal activity by a political candidate is not swept under the rug with the pretext that doing something about it will “influence” the election. If a candidate engages in criminal activity, the public deserves to know.
I, for one, am completely sick of the Clinton crime family getting away with blatantly disregarding the law. I long to see their criminal career finally ended.
Can we all hope the Bush family changes their enrollment for good after this?
Obama can ask for his resignation. That would be interesting.
They should change their last name to Mudd.
Did Congress require Comey to report, or not?
If so, then the moment Comey informed 535 pairs of loose lips and their staffers, he might as well tell the rest of the planet.
Like Harry Reid, this lawyer is a liar and a partisan hack. That he was a Bush ethics lawyer is peripheral and embarrassing.
the entire investigation and issue is the Clintons and their henchmen trying to influence the election.
Richard is a Democrat from way back. Ignore him.
No crime there!
So I guess that's why they lied to the American people..."big time" about Benghazi....didn't want to influence the election via bad news...insane
But the media can create whatever they want?? to influence the election.
All these same people lied about Benghazi....from the President down...
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