Congress, Criminal law, Lawyering, Media, Politics

Reid Alleges That Comey May Have Violated Federal Law In Disclosure To Congress

225px-harry_reid_official_portraitJcomey-100I just spoke on the BBC where the anchor was pursuing the question of “whether the FBI broke the law” by informing Congress of the reopening of the investigation into the emails. The allegation came from Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid on Sunday. However, with all due respect to our esteemed GW graduate (and I really do respect Sen. Reid), his allegation is in my view wildly misplaced. Reid is arguing that the actions of FBI Director James B. Comey violates the Hatch Act. I cannot see a plausible, let alone compelling, basis for such a charge against Comey.


In his letter to Comey, Reid raised the the Hatch Act, which prohibits partisan politicking by government employees.

5 U.S.C. § 7323(a)(1) prohibits a government employee from “us[ing] his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.”

Reid argued:

“Your actions in recent months have demonstrated a disturbing double standard for the treatment of sensitive information, with what appears to be a clear intent to aid one political party over another. I am writing to inform you that my office has determined that these actions may violate the Hatch Act, which bars FBI officials from using their official authority to influence an election. Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law.”

The reference to “months” is curious. Comey has kept Congress informed in compliance with oversight functions of the congressional committees but has been circumspect in the extent of such disclosures. It is troubling to see Democrats (who historically favor both transparency and checks on executive powers) argue against such disclosure and cooperation with oversight committees. More importantly, the Hatch Act is simply a dog that will not hunt.

Richard W. Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and the chief ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush White House from 2005 to 2007, has filed a Hatch Act complaint against Comey with the federal Office of Special Counsel and Office of Government Ethics. He argues that “We cannot allow F.B.I. or Justice Department officials to unnecessarily publicize pending investigations concerning candidates of either party while an election is underway.”

However, Comey was between the horns of a dilemma. He could be accused of acts of commission in making the disclosure or omission in withholding the disclosure in an election year. Quite frankly, I found Painter’s justification for his filing remarkably speculative. He admits that he has no evidence to suggest that Comey wants to influence the election or favors either candidate. Intent is key under the Hatch investigations.  You can disagree with the timing of Comey’s disclosure, but that is not a matter for the Hatch Act or even an ethical charge in my view.

Congress passed the Hatch Act in response to scandals during the 1938 congressional elections and intended the Act to bar federal employees from using “[their] official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.” Comey is not doing that in communicating with Congress on a matter of oversight.

Such violations under the Hatch Act, even if proven, are not criminal matters. The Office of Special Counsel -can investigate such matters and seek discipline — a matter than can ultimately go before the Merit Systems Protection Board.

That does not mean that there is not a policy against statements or actions influencing elections.  Comey issued a memo in March 2016 reminding that employees “should be particularly mindful of these rules in an election year,” and defining prohibited political activity to include all “activity directed toward the success or failure of a political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group.”

281 thoughts on “Reid Alleges That Comey May Have Violated Federal Law In Disclosure To Congress”

  1. I hope that I am incorrect–truly, I do–but I fear reading in the paper one morning that Comey–like so many of the others in the past who have posed a perceived danger to the Clintons, in terms of revealing damning information–will suddenly turn up dead, in a DC park, with a bullet to the back of the head. Investigators will, as usual, swiftly rule it a suicide, and it will be declared that he had been suffering undue stress and torment over the issues surrounding Clinton. Like I said, I can only hope that I am incorrect.

    1. bam bam – I think Comey gets a driver and body guards. Hard to see a suicide in the making.

      1. One of the amusing things about the Clinton Administration was that the Secretary of Agriculture got portal-to-portal limo service and a security detail and the FBI director and the HHS secretary (a short and fat woman) were shlepping around town all by their lonesome. Mr. Freeh did carry a gun.

      2. Paul, he could always have an accident – like drop a barbell on his neck or something

        1. More likely, Clinton will insist on bringing back public hangings with the wooden cart and all.

  2. Nonsense, Sen. Reid.

    Dir. Comey had an obligation to correct his sworn testimony. A legal obligation; not whatever political obligation you believe he breached.

  3. Comrade Reid sees a thin straw to save the progressive socialists and will, by constant repetition try to make it a truth. Radical Reasoning 101. Say it three times without rebuttal and then quote yourself as support without a shred of real evidence. If that side wins so be it but Comey did the right thing this time. the ball will be in Judge Lynch’s court yet ….isn’t she one of those perhaps being investigated?

    Some may respect Reid but many of us consider him to be one who is trying to protect not only The Party but his own chances and his own legacy. The truth to those people Reid and others like him is of the moment and true if it serves the party. It’s a living truth that changes moment to moment.

    But it’s not for decent people with morals, values,ethics, and standards as we understand them and…as we are held to them by those like Reid,,,and Pelosi…and Clinton.

  4. it cracks me up that HRC can arrogantly use her own server, usurp the rule of law and then innocently act like she needs a break.
    If she was consistent she would have said something like:
    Too bad James Comey is just the director of the FBI and he’s replaceable” I’d respect her just a bit more.
    Act like the thug you rally are will ya lady?

  5. A large percent of people have already voted. Those who have voted have known for a long time who they are voting for. Are there many undecided voters? Only someone at a very low information level would change their mind because of Comey’s announcement.

  6. Apparently he has gotten a search warrant by now.
    I don’t think the Hatch Act allegation will fly.
    He could have been accused of the same thing for recommending no indictment in July.
    There are a lot of machinations going on behind the scenes now, it is very strange activity looking at it from a distance.
    I am still trying to wrap my mind around what exactly would be in the Weiner emails that would warrant reopening the previous investigation.

    1. Huma “would forward the sensitive emails to:

      Her personal Clinton.com email address
      Her personal yahoo.com address
      Her email linked to husband Anthony Weiner”

      My link is above.

  7. In re. Harry’s respectability—–what they said.
    (Everyone who castigated Harry.)

    In the military, there is a mantra—it’s the uniform not the man. I.e. Respect the office of Senator.

    Harry?? He and Pelosi together are one of the major reasons why we are in the election predicament of the current day. Two degreed troglodytes of the highest order,

  8. From the newest set of remarks, spouted by Reid, it appears as though he has, once again, stumbled off of the treadmill and sustained another brain injury.

  9. In my 6 decades on this planet I have never seen as blatant a political hack as Harry Reid. The elitists are scrambling. Does anyone believe his story about how he got his face caved in?

  10. (and I really do respect Sen. Reid),

    Well, it’s not everyone who can amass a $6 million fortune with the proceeds of 30-odd years on government salaries and 9 years practicing law in what was then a 3d tier city.

  11. I don’t think Comey has anything to worry about with this witch-hunt. He notified both parties that there was a potentially serious problem. That is his job. The delay has to do with his field officers deciding to push it up the ladder. They took their time, probably scanning the headers and subject lines of many of the 650,000 emails. Enough to see that the new set did not fit with the old set.

    Just to add to the problem, I am sure that Anthony Weiner does not have TS clearance, so what is that doing in his house. If I am Hillary, I am praying I can play out the clock and win. If I am Obama, I do not even consider giving her a pardon, my numbers would drop like a rock.

    1. my numbers would drop like a rock.

      Nope. Being a votary of BO is a subcultural dispensation, not a reaction to his performance. Unless he’s caught with a dead girl or a live boy, his numbers have a floor just under 40%.

    2. “I am sure that Anthony Weiner does not have TS clearance, so what is that doing in his house.”

      “Huma Abedin told FBI agents in an April interview that she didn’t know how to consistently print documents or emails from her secure Dept. of State system. Instead, she would forward the sensitive emails to:

      Her personal Clinton.com email address
      Her personal yahoo.com address
      Her email linked to husband Anthony Weiner

      Abedin said, according to FBI documents, she would then access those email accounts via webmail from an unclassified computer system at the State Dept. and print the documents, many of which were classified and top secret, from the largely unprotected webmail portals.”

      http://truepundit.com/clinton-aide-huma-abedin-forwarded-classified-top-secret-emails-to-yahoo-webmail-linked-to-anthony-weiner/

      1. Prairie Rose – regarding Huma’s future. The word ‘screwed’ comes to mind.

      2. The FBI hasn’t “reopened” the Clinton email probe. They’re now reading emails on the Weiner/Abedin laptop to see If they should reopen it. They have not said that the newly discovered emails are “classified”.

  14. Painter maintains that an official doesn’t need to have a specific intent to influence an election to be in violation of the Hatch Act or government ethics rules.

    1. Painter can maintain anything he wants. Most dorks do that as normal. It’s called situational ethics.

  15. Unlike you, I have no respect for Harry Reid or anything he says. He lies to the Senate, to the people he represents and to all of us, just to make or win a point. In my opinion he was the worst, most divisive and most partisan Senate Majority leader in my memory.

  16. And we don’t really know if Harry Reid is right about the FBI’s ongoing investigation into Trump’s Russian ties.

    1. As if setting one’ self up for being blackmailed is a smart thing to do? Reid is a despicable human for lying, admitting that he lied and smugly said “it worked, didn’t it?”

  19. Speaking of “breaking the law”, how does Harry Reid explain that his net worth is in the millions of dollars on his salary? Was it because of insider trading, which for you and I is against the law, but for him is “legal”?

    dougkinan@yahoo.com

  20. I found Comey’s letter to Congress to be based on “remarkably speculative and a bit sensational” nonsense. At the time of his letter, he didn’t have a warrant for said emails. He claimed he feared leaks if he didn’t come forward with, essentially, what he didn’t have in evidence. Of course he could have said he had “no comment” on the matter if there was a leak. If he finds duplicates or Huma’s recipe file, which is possible, it was much ta-do about nothing and his own credibility and timing will be forever in doubt. Maybe even “extremely careless”.

    1. Yes, if he were so concerned by leaks why did he sit on the information about the emails for almost a month before publicizing their existence?

    2. BUT he DID have the laptop computer that was willingly given to the FBI by Wiener who was under investigation by the FBI. That laptop seemingly was shared by he and his wife. Because it was willing given to the FBI, they did not need a search warrant.

      While you might consider Comey’s letter top be nonsense, you have not seen the laptop, nor its email content!

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