The former W. Bush ethics attorney who has already sued Donald Trump for violating the Constitution by continuing to take payments from foreign sources has also filed a complaint with the Government Ethics Office charging the FBI Director James Comey violated the Hatch Act by publicly disclosing unsubstantiated information about Huma Abedine’s emails found on Anthony Weiner’s laptop.
“The F.B.I.’s job is to investigate, not to influence the outcome of an election,” Painter wrote in the op-ed. “And that is why, on Saturday, I filed a complaint against the F.B.I. with the Office of Special Counsel, which investigates Hatch Act violations, and with the Office of Government Ethics.”
The Hatch Act generally prohibits employees in the executive branch from engaging in certain forms of political activity.
Painter provided LawNewz.com with a copy of the complaint that he sent to both the Office of Special Counsel and the Office of Government Ethics, saying the public had a right to see it.
“I write to request investigation of apparent violations of the Hatch Act by the Director and perhaps other officials in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in connection with highly unusual public statements while voting is underway about the status of an investigation concerning a political candidate, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,” Painter wrote in his complaint. “I also request that the Office of Government Ethics ask the FBI to conduct an internal investigation of whether there has been misuse of official position, 5 CFR 2635.702.”
Here’s a video that was actually released last October, before the election, featuring Richard Painter addressing this exact subject. Yes, it was reported via the Russian arm of Voice of America and yes, that’s real weird and ironic.
Now there already is an Inspector General’s investigation of Comey’s actions.
The Justice Department inspector general will review broad allegations of misconduct involving FBI Director James B. Comey and how he handled the probe of Hillary Clinton’s email practices, the inspector general announced Thursday.
The investigation will be wide-ranging, encompassing Comey’s various letters and public statements on the matter and whether FBI or other Justice Department employees leaked nonpublic information, according to Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz.
The inspector general’s announcement drew praise from those on both sides of the political aisle and again put a spotlight on Comey, who emerged as a controversial figure during the 2016 race. Democrats, including Clinton, have blamed the FBI director for the Democratic candidate’s loss, arguing that the renewed email inquiry and Comey’s public missives on the eve of the election blunted her momentum.
So now his actions are being looked at from two different angles. I’m hopeful that this clear and obvious breach of not just the Hatch Act but also DOJ regulations and guidelines will be ultimately addressed and punished.
Unfortunately in the short term, we still have Kompromat Drumpf to deal with.