OPINION | Bill O’Reilly: Senators snooze while Comey drops leak bombshell

It was almost beyond belief that James Comey calmly stated in front of the world that he leaked a written assessment of a private meeting he had with the President of the United States, and a dozen Senators who were questioning him sat there with no reaction. I mean it was bizarre. The former FBI chief just throwing it out there like he was discussing a movie he recently saw.

Let me paraphrase the Comey attitude about the memo: “Oh yeah, it was great. I woke up and said gee, I have to get my side of the story out after I was fired. So why don’t I give a copy of a very private memo that may implicate the leader of the free world in a possible cover-up regarding the Russian investigation? I know, I’ll give it to a friend of mine!”

{mosads}“Yeah, that’s the ticket. I’ll pass the very private memo, favorable to me but damaging to the President, to my pal who will then give it to The New York Times, a newspaper that despises President Trump to a degree rarely seen on this planet.”

And that’s exactly what James Comey’s attitude was while the Senators on the Intelligence Committee snoozed.

Not one of them said: “You did what?”

Instead, they “moved along.”  No one challenged Comey about his incredible statement.

It was only later after a few journalists began tweeting about the security breech that the true issue emerged: the head of the FBI, who was tasked with investigating government leakers, is a leaker himself.

Geez.

It took only minutes for pinheads on cable TV to begin braying that it wasn’t really a leak because Comey’s secret memo wasn’t classified.  But how could it be classified if Comey kept it away from formal federal scrutiny?  This memo was his alone, not filed under anything. But it was written on an FBI computer on government time.

Rod Serling would have given up smoking for this Twilight Zone script.

A few hours later, President Trump’s private lawyer heaped scorn on Comey, implying he violated the government trust and that he, himself, might be investigated.

This exposition is important on a number of fronts. Before his bombshell admission, Comey testified that The New York Times had printed false stories about the Russian investigation because stuff leaked to the paper was untrue. The former FBI chief said he could not publicly refute the stories because of the ongoing investigation.

But that’s bull. Government officials have a duty to tell the truth to the American citizenry.  If we are being misled, the FBI should not simply accept that.  A false media account can certainly be categorized as fiction by the FBI at any time.

No wonder President Trump has been going ballistic over this Russian thing and all the leaks surrounding it.

But let’s get back to this Comey leak specifically.

If old Jim wanted to tell his side of the story why didn’t he just do that?  As a private citizen after he was sacked, he could have held a press conference or had his lawyer answer questions. Right?

But noooooooooo.

Comey leaked important stuff on the sly.

So what does that say about him? 

It says he’s kind of devious although I have to give him credit for owning up to the incredible situation. In Washington, back room dealings are common so I guess that’s why the Senators were comatose when Comey admitted his sneakiness.  

I mean come on, if a Russian government official had done that to Putin, he would have been awarded a lean-to in Siberia.  

Even though President Trump denies asking Comey for loyalty, that attribute is now certainly in play.  Mr. Trump was suspicious of Comey and vice versa.  It is best for the country the two are officially separated.

What is not best for the country is a former FBI chief calling the President a liar and admitting he tried to harm Mr. Trump by leaking a damaging point-of-view to a hostile newspaper.

The Senators on the Intel Committee fell over all themselves praising Mr. Comey’s patriotism. But whatever happened to honor and forthright behavior? Isn’t that part of the patriotic equation?

Apparently not any more.

Bill O’Reilly analyzes the news on BillO’Reilly.com 

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